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Aihil Obstat. 
J. P. ARENDZEN, S.T.D., 


CENSOR DEPUTATUS. 


Emprimatur. 
EDM. CAN. SURMONT, 


VicarRius GENERALIS, 


WESTMONASTERII, 
Die 2 Septembris, 1911. 


THE APOCALYPSE OF 
ST. JOHN 


A COMMENTARY ON THE GREEK 
VERSION 


BY 


JAMES J. L. RATTON, M.D., M.Cu., 0.0.1. 


LigvtT.-CoLonEeL (RETIRED), I.M.S 


LATE FELLOW AND EXAMINER, MADRAS UNIVERSITY 


New York, CincinnaTI, CHICAGO 


BENZIGER BROTHERS 


PUBLISHERS OF BENZIGER’S MAGAZINE 
1912 


Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2007 with funding from 
Microsoft Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/apocalypseofstjo00raittiala 


DEDICATED, (BY KIND PERMISSION), 


TO 


HIS EMINENCE, 
FRANCIS, CARDINAL BOURNE, 


ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER 





PREFACE 


In January 1906 the present writer published a book on “ The 
Apocalypse, The Antichrist, and The End,” and in 1908 a 
supplementary book of ‘“‘ Essays on the Apocalypse.” These 
books were designed to show that the Revelation was given in 
the year 67, that the Letters to the Seven Churches were 
predictions concerning the Seven Ages of the Church of Christ, 
and that the Jewish and Roman themes of the book were 
historic forecasts, which have come true. These works were 
so well received and favourably reviewed, notwithstanding their 
many shortcomings, that the author ventures now to publish a 
“Commentary” on the Greek text of the Apocalypse. Further 
study especially of the original Greek of S. John has strengthened 
the conclusions reached in the works above mentioned. 

The usual custom has been followed of giving the Revelation 
its ancient title, ‘The Apocalypse.”” But that word seems to 
have had an obscuring influence on the study of the book. Its 
real title is ‘‘ The Revelation of Jesus Christ.’”” Many of those 
who have neglected ‘‘The Apocalypse,” as being a difficult and 
mysterious book, would have felt compelled to read ‘‘ The 
Revelation of Jesus Christ.” 

A slight sketch of the Book and its period will enable the 
reader to appreciate its contents. 

We pass over the Preface and the Letters to the Seven 
Churches, and come to the first or Jewish theme. This is a 
dramatised representation of the end of the Jewish Dispensa- 
tion. At the time of writing, z.¢.,in the year 67, this climax 
was in sight. The armies of Nero were marching on Jerusalem. 
In the eyes of S. John and his brethren it was an epoch of 
transcending importance. The establishment of the Kingdom 
of Christ preached by our Lord and His Apostles was im- 
médiately looked for. It was the turning-point of religious 
history, when Christianity took over the inheritance of the Jews. 

Delivered from its earliest foe, Judaism, Christianity was next 
imperilled by the hostility of the Czsars evidenced by Cesar 
worship. Nero’s persecution of the Church was in progress 
when S. John went to Patmos. Nero’s extraordinary promi- 
nence in the history of the Church as the destroyer of the 
Ancient Temple and bloody persecutor of the nascent Church 
invested him with peculiar horror in the eyes of Hebrew 
Christians. He was looked upon as a kind of demoniacal 


manifestation. Christians and heathens alike thought that there 
Vil 


Vili PREFACE 


was something supernatural about him. Traces of this feeling 
will be noticed in the Roman theme of the Apocalypse, in which 
Nero appears as the great protagonist of paganism. The 
Roman theme is a dramatised version of the history of Cesar 
worship and the punishment it brought upon Rome and the 
Ceesars, symbolically rendered. It ends with the fall of Rome 
about the beginning of the sixth century.. Then follows a 
prediction of a thousand years of peace for the Church. After 
which we are told the Devil must be loosed for a little time. 

The predictions of Revelation have been marvellously ful- 
filled as history shows us. The Chosen People were given 
prophets to warn them of the future. It is natural to suppose 
that the people chosen to replace them would be given a like 
advantage. No one can study this Revelation without seeing 
that the mantle of prophecy has fallen on S. John. He is 
our Christian prophet, and this Book contains his predictions, 
meant for the guidance of the Chief Bishops of the Church, 
down to the end of time. 

The last two Popes have been moved to ordain a special 
searching of the Holy Scriptures. Leo XIII. wrote: “Let 
Catholics cultivate the science of criticism, as most useful for 
the right understanding of Holy Scripture. They have our 
strenuous approval. Nor do we disapprove if the Catholic 
interpreter, when expedient, avails himself of the work of non- 
Catholics. ... There are a few things concerning which Holy 
Church has yet made no certain and definite statement. In 
regard to these it is lawful to each Catholic scholar to hold and 
to defend his own opinion ” (Brief Vigilante, 30th October, 1902). 
The Apocalypse is precisely one of those parts of Holy Scripture 
about which the Church has as yet made no certain and definite 
statement. 

As will be noticed later, our present Holy Father, Pope 
Pius X., writing to Mgr. Le Camus, Bishop of La Rochelle, 
encourages the pursuit of Scriptural exegesis in similar terms. 
(See p. 83.) 

This brings me to the question of the “ Imprimatur” of the 
Diocese of Westminster, placed on this Book. Some reviewers 
of my previous works, which also bore this imprimatur, con- 
cluded that my books set forth “the Roman view” of the 
Apocalypse officially. But there is no Roman view. The 
‘‘ Imprimatur” means that the book has been read by a censor 
deputatus, who has given it a nthil obstat, that is a certificate 
that it is free from heresy. The imprimatur conveys no official 
approval of the book whatever. 

My very sincere thanks are due to the Rev. Francis J. 
Sheehan, Blackheath, for his kindness in helping me to 
correct the proofs of this book. 


CONTENTS 


PREFACE - ὅν Ξ Ξ ζ a 
BIBLIOGRAPHY - “ = - Ὁ 


INTRODUCTION 


I, LIFE oF 8. JOHN - - - - 
II. ΗΙΒΊΟΕΥ OF THE BOOK - - - 
III. Historic NoTEs - - - - 
IV. THE DATE OF REVELATION - - 
V. THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA - 


VI. THE PLAN AND SYMBOLISM OF REVELATION 


VII. THE TExT - Ἄ a ὰ τ 


COMMENTARY 


PART 
I, PREFACE TO THE REVELATION - - 


Il. LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 
III. THE JEWIsH THEME - εἶ 2 
IV. THE ROMAN THEME - - 

V. THE MILLENNIUM - - - 
VI. THE GENERAL JUDGMENT - - 
VII. THE New JERUSALEM - - - 


EPILOGUE - P 4 : 5 


INDEX - - - - - ω 


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ALLARD, P. : 
ALLARD, P.: 
ALLARD, P.: 
ALLARD, P.: 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


“ Histoire des Persécutions des Deux Premiéres Siécles.”’ 1885. 
** Les Catacombes de Rome.” 1896. 

** Le Christianisme et L’Empire.” 1897. 

“Ten Lectures on the Martyrs.’’ 1907. 


_ BAILEY, CyRIL: “The Religion of Ancient Rome.” 1907. 
BARRY, VERY REv. DR.: “The Tradition of Scripture.” 1906. 
BATIFOL, BISHOP: ‘ Was Apostolic Christianity a Church?” 1906. 
BossuET : “ L’Apocalypse.” 1689. 

BRANDSCHEID: “ The New Testament,” Greek. 

CHASE, BISHOP : Journal of Theological Studies, April, 1907. 
CHURCH AND BRODRIBB: “Select Letters of Pliny.” 
CORNELIUS A LAPIDE: “ Commentaries.” 1625. 

CRUDEN’S Concordance. 

DARRAS: ‘ History of the Catholic Church.” 

DILL: * Roman Society.” 1899. 

DION Cassius: “Roman History.” 229. 

** Encyclopzedia Britannica.” 

“ Encyclopedia, The Catholic.” 

“Encyclopedia, The Harmsworth.” 

EvsEBIUS: “ Ecclesiastical History.” 325. 

FouarD, ABBE : “Les Origines de L’Eglise.” 1905. 

GASQUET, ABBOT: “ The Great Pestilence.” 1893. 


GIBBON, ED. 
Gwynv, Dr. 


: “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” 1788. 
: “The Apocalypse of S. John,’ Syriac. 1897. 


HASTINGS : “ Dictionary of the Bible.” 1902. 

HOLZHAUSER, VEN. : “ Interprétation de L’Apocalypse.” 1649. 

Hort, DRr.: “ Judaistic Christianity.” 

Hort, Dr.: “The Apocalypse of St. John.” 1908. 

JOSEPHUS, FLavius: “ Wars of the Jews,” ‘‘ Antiquities,” etc. (Whiston). 
KENYON : “ Our Bible and Manuscript.” 1898. 


ΧΙ 


xii BIBLIOGRAPHY 


LATTEY, REv. C., S.J. : “Ancient King Worship.” 1909 

LAYARD, SIR W.: “ Nineveh and Babylon.” 1853. 

LEWIN, THOs.: Fasti Sacri. 1865. 

LIGHTFOOT, BISHOP: ‘‘ The Apostolic Fathers.” 1890. 

LIGHTFOOT, BISHOP: ‘ Biblical Essays on Supernatural Religion.” 
MACKINLAY, COLONEL: ‘‘ The Magi.” 1908. 

MADAN, REV. J.: “St. Luke’s Silence about St. Paul at Antioch.” 1904. 
MANN, REv. H. K.: * Lives of the Popes of the Middle Ages.” Ig10. 
MARTINDALE, REV. A. C., S.J. : “The Religion of Early Rome.” 1909. 
NEWMAN, CARDINAL: “ The Protestant Idea of Antichrist.” 1840. 
NEWMAN, CARDINAL: “ Miscellanies.” 1840. 

PasTOR, DR. L.: “ History of the Popes—Middle Ages.” I9IT. 
PASTORINI (BISHOP WALMSLEY): “ The Apocalypse.” 1771. 
RAMSAY, SIR W.: “The Church and the Roman Empire.” 1900. 
RAMSAY, SIR W.: “ Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia.” 1904. 
SALMON, DR.: “ Historical Introduction to the Study of the N.T.” 
Scott, REv. T.: ‘* The Visions of the Apocalypse.” 1893. 

STUART, MOSES, REV. : “Commentary on the Apocalypse.” 1845. 
SUETONIUS: “ The Twelve Ceesars.” 125 (ἢ). 

SWETE, H. B., DR.: ‘* The Apocalypse of S. John.” 1906. 

Tacitus : ‘* Annals,” * History.” 115 (ἢ). 

TESTAMENTS, Old and New. 


“SEA DREAMS” 


THE Sabbath, pious variers from the church, 

To chapel ; where a heated pulpiteer, 

Not preaching simple Christ to simple men, 
Announced the coming doom, and fulminated 
Against the scarlet woman and her creed. 

For sideways up he swung his arms, and shriek’d 
“Thus, thus with violence,” ev’n as if he held 
The Apocalyptic millstone, and himself 

Were that great Angel ; “ Thus with violence 
Shall Babylon be cast into the sea.” 


ALFRED TENNYSON. 


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ABBREVIATIONS 


= “The Revelation,” “The Apocalypse.” 


Jhn. = Gospel of S. John. 


O.T. ‘ = Old Testament. 
N.T. = New Testament. 
H.E. = “ Historia Ecclesiastica,’ Eusebius. 


B.M. = “ Book of Martyrs,” Eusebius. 


S. = Dr. H. B. Swete. 
Bd. = Dr. Brandscheid. 
Anls. = “Annals,” Tacitus. 


Ants. = “ Antiquities,” Josephus. 
Ezech. = Ezechiel (Ezekiel A.V.). 
Zach. = Zachariah (Zechariah A.V.). 
Osee = Osee (Hosea A.V.). 


= Vulgate. 


Ὁ. and F. = “ Decline and Fall,” Gibbon. 


ERRATA 


Page το, for ‘' Niokorate '’ read "" Neokorate.”’ 


14, for Vids read Υἱός. 
41, for ‘* Mopsoestia ’’ read ‘‘ Mopsuestia.” 
66, for “" Clements” vead ‘* Clemens.” 
111, for *‘ sign of the Cross” read ** baptism.” 
123, for ἀγγέλον read ἀγγέλου. 
134, after ‘‘ septem’’ read ‘* candelabrorum aureorem.,”’ 
139, for ‘Simon ”’ read *‘ Simeon.”’ 
145, for ‘* the Church” read ‘‘ each Church.” 
155, for ‘‘ Thome” read “"" Theme.”’ 
179, for ‘‘ correspond well” read ‘‘ correspond with.” 
210, for duxpives read dv κρίνεις. 
240, for ‘‘ Empires ’’ vead "" Empire.” 
278, for ‘his prerogative '’ read ‘‘ His prerogative.” 
354, for βύσσιυον read βύσσινον. 
358, for ‘‘ Parmonian ” vead “‘ Pannonian.” 
384, for ‘‘ 1,72,8000” read “" 1,728,000.” 





THE : 
APOCALYPSE OF S. JOHN 


INTRODUCTION 


I 
LIFE OF S. JOHN 


Tue Apocalypse of S. John is in the canon of the Bible, recog- 
nised by the Church as the Word of God. It describes itself 
officially as “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” The precise 
nature of its revelation is a question that has been asked and 
has been variously answered for eighteen hundred years. The 
Book was written in a cypher, the Key of which was lost at the 
end of the first century. 

Experience teaches us that the best guide to exegesis lies in 
the study of the environment of the writer. A clear realisation 
of his position in relation to surrounding forces will best indicate 
his thoughts and designs, the aim and object of his writings. 

To apply this method to the study of the Apocalypse we 
begin with a review of the life of its author, S. John the Evan- 
gelist, his relation to the “Son of Man;” his sufferings, 
travels, experiences, anxieties, outlook, aims, and all other 
contemporary matters which may throw light on the Revelation 
that bears his name. 

The name John, in Hebrew, signifies “ Jehovah hath been 
gracious.” We gather from his Gospel (i. 35-42) that S. John 
was originally a follower of the Baptist, and that he walked 
with Jesus as a disciple for a time, before his final call to the 
Apostleship (Jhn. ii. 12, iv. 8). When our Lord chose from 
the hardy fishermen of the Sea of Galilee, the companions of 
His ministry, He called S. John to be one of His great Apostles. 
John, the son of Zebedee and Salome, was mending nets in his 
father’s ship with his brother James, when our Lord called 
them. ‘“ Forthwith they left their nets and father and followed 

I 


2 THE REVELATION 


him” (Matt. iv. 21-22). 8. John was probably of the tribe of 
Zabulon, derived according to Genesis (xxx. 20), from the sixth 
son of Liah. The verse offers two etymologies of the name 
Zabulon, from the roots Z B D, “‘ give,” and Z B L, “ inhabit ” 
(Encyc. Brit. Zebulun). Son of Zebedee seems to claim the root 
ZBD. The eastern boundary of the country of Zabulon was 
near the Lake of Galilee. The sons of Zabulon were a sea- 
faring people. ‘ Zabulon shall dwell on the sea shore, and in 
the road of ships” (Gen. xlix. 13). Cetron was within its 
boundaries (Judg. i. 30). S. Matthew writes: “And leaving 
the city of Nazareth he came and dwelt in Capharnaum on the 
sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and of Nepthalim” (iv. 13). 
The sea coast referred to is that of Galilee. | 

S. John and his family seem to have been fairly well to do. 
Zebedee employed hired servants. Salome contributed to the 
support of our Lord. S. John was part owner of his ship 
(Luke v. 10). His “ship” was a large open boat with lateen 
sails, capable of holding more than a dozen men (Matt. viii. 23). 
The same kind of ship still sails the sea of Galilee. 

S. John was the chosen friend and companion of our Lord. 
His innocence, his sublime faith and strength of character, seem 
to have conduced to this privilege. He was probably also 
about the same age, or but little younger than our Lord, as 
parity of age is one of the recognised causes of companionship. 
Besides, resolute and seasoned men were wanted to help in the 
labours and privations of the ministry; men in the prime of 
life, fit to carry thé cross to the ends of the earth, and able to 
preach the Gospel. The Apostles were chosen as’ preachers. 
** He made that twelve should be with him and that he might send 
them to preach” (Mark iii. 14). The Jews were very exacting 
as regards the age of preachers or teachers, wherefore it is at 
least probable that S. John was not much under thirty years of 
age, when he was called. 

S. John and his brother S. James, were early named 
Boanerges, ‘‘ which is the sons of thunder” (Mark i1i.17). Some. 
modern philologists equate the word with “filled with the 
rushing Spirit of the Holy Ghost,” connecting it with the idea 
of prophecy—as John, ‘the prophet.” In the Book of Reve- 
lation, S. John is twice saluted as a prophet, by an angel 
(R. xix. το, xxii. 9). Both 8. James and S. John were given an 
official preference by our Lord. S. John seems to have been 
placed on a level next to S. Peter, above the rest of the 
Apostles. These three went up with Jesus on a high mountain, 
apart, and witnessed the Transfiguration (Matt. xvii. 1-2). Some 
reflection of this vision will be found in the description of the 
Son of Man, in the Revelation (R. i. 13-15). Again, apart, 


LIFE OF 8. JOHN τ᾿ 


they heard from our Lord the Temple prophecy. He told 
them of the destruction of the Temple and of the signs which 
would presage that event. And with an eye on S. John, 

erhaps, who was destined to see those days, He said, “ Then 
et those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and those 
who are in the midst therof, depart out ; and those who are in 
the countries, not enter into it” (Luke xxi. 21). S. John took 
these instructions to heart. 

Bossuet remarks that prophecies have always been fulfilled by 
natural means, so that the living actors in the events predicted, 
have been too preoccupied with their parts to notice their 
relation to prophecy. When Titus besieged Jerusalem the 
Jews failed to recognise that their hour had come. Even 
Simeon and the Nazarene Church needed a warning to flee to 
Pella. That warning they received from S. John, in the 
Book of Revelation, which was sent to them early in the year 
67 A.D. 

S. Peter and S. John went forward to prepare the last supper. 
When our Lord said to the Apostles that one of them would 
betray Him, S. Peter beckoned to one of the disciples who was 
leaning on the bosom of Jesus, whom Jesus loved, and asked 
him to inquire who was the betrayer. ‘“ He therefore leaning 
on the breast of Jesus said to him. Lord, who is it? Jesus 
answered. He it is to whom I shall reach bread dipped. And 
when He had dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot” 
(Jhn. xiii. 24-27). This episode shows the extraordinary privilege 
of S. John. | 

S. John walked with our Lord. He noted the, murderous 
hatred of the Jews, and frequently alludes to it in his Gospel 
(Jhn. v. 18, vii. 1, viii. 37, 59, X. 31, xi. 53). On the night of the 
Agony, he was in the garden of Gethsemane. He followed our 
Lord to the court of Annas, and entered it, as he “ was known 
to the high priest.” ‘ But Peter stood at the door without.” 
He spoke to the portress and brought 5. Peter in. (Jhn. xviii. 15, 
16.) This action naturally suggests that S. John was a superior 
person. But in the Acts we are told that he and S. Peter were 
both looked upon as “‘ ignorant men” (Acts iv. 13). S. John’s 
writings show him to have been a man of culture, on a par with 
Josephus. Later, outside the hall of Pilate, he heard the Jews 
cry out, “ Not this man but Barabbas” (Jhn. xviii. 40). ‘‘ Crucify 
him, Crucify him” (Jhn. xix. 6). He witnessed the suffer- 
ings on the Cross. Our Saviour seeing “‘his mother and the 
disciple standing, whom he loved, he saith to his mother, 
Woman behold thy son. After that he saith to the disciple 
Behold thy mother. And from that hour the disciple took 
her to his own ” (Jhn. xix. 26-27). Our Saviour conferred upon 


4 THE REVELATION 


S. John the supreme honour of being His substitute on earth in 
regard to the care of His Mother. 

After the death of our Saviour S. John saw the soldier open 
His side witha spear. This action he recalls in the Revelation 
(R. i. 7) and in his Gospel (xix. 34). 

All these things, related by S. John, in his Gospel, must have 
coloured his mental outlook as regards the Jews. The note of 
vengeance is prominent in the Apocalypse. We shall recur to 
that hereafter. 

SS. Peter and John were informed by Mary Magdalen that the 
tomb of our Lord was empty, and these two went to examine it. 
(Jhn. xx. 2, 4.) After the Resurrection, once more upon the 
shore of Galilee, the disciple whom Jesus loved followed Him, 
and S. Peter asked, ‘Lord what shall this man do? Jesus 
saith to him, So I will have him to remain till I come.” This 
saying, therefore, went abroad among the brethren that that 
disciple should not die. (Jhn. xxi. 20-23.) It is evident that 
the brethren did not think that S. John would live for centuries. 
They thought that the second Coming would not be long 
delayed, and that it would occur in S. John’s lifetime. After 
the Resurrection the Apostles asked our Lord, ‘‘ Lord wilt thou 
at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel ?” (Acts i. 6). 

The early Church at Jerusalem, retained most of the distinc- 
tive customs of the Jews, such as circumcision, kosher meats, 
the Jewish Sabbath, the Jewish rites, and worship of the 
Temple. Our Lord, Himself, lived the exterior life of a Jew, 
even so far as the observance of Jewish religious customs was 
concerned. The early Church of Jerusalem followed His 
example. The Jews looked upon the Hebrew Christians in 
Jerusalem simply as a Jewish sect, which they called the sect of 
the Nazarenes. Tertullus, pleading before Felix, the Governor, 
described S. Paul as “ the author of the sedition of the sect of 
the Nazarenes”” (Acts xxiv. 5). S. John was a leader of the 
Nazarenes. He is said by Polycrates to have worn the πέτᾶλον 
or sacerdotal headpiece of a high priest. It was a plate of the 
finest gold having engraved upon it, ‘‘ The Holy of the Lord” 
(Exod. xxxix. 29). This shows his position in the Nazarene 
Church, and the Jewish complexion of that Church. 

S. John celebrated the Christian Pasch on the 14th day of 
the moon, agreeing as to time with the Jewish “ Passover ” 
(S. Ireneus I. iii. 12, Euseb. H. E. v. 24). The early Hebrew 
Christians looked upon themselves as true Jews and upon their 
brethren who rejected the Messias as false Jews. They were 
not called Christians at Jerusalem (Acts xxiv. 5). That name 
was assumed or acquired by the Gentile disciples at Antioch. 
So long as worship according to the Old Law continued in the 


LIFE OF 5. JOHN 5 


Temple, it claimed their allegiance. This state of affairs con- 
tinued until the year 67, when the exodus of the Church of 
Jerusalem to Pella took place. After that, in the year 70, the 
Temple was destroyed. Then a new era appeared, that of 
the Messianic Kingdom. Jesus preached the Gospel of the . 
Kingdom (Matt. ix. 35). The Apostles were sent to preach it. 
It is generally recognised that God’s Church is His Kingdom— 
Church Militant and Church Triumphant. When the Temple 
and Judaism fell, Christianity stood alone, and the primacy of 
the Church passed away from Jerusalem. S. John’s life was 
spared to chronicle these events and their relation to the 
Kingdom. This is a part of his Revelation. 

““When the days of Pentecost were accomplished, the Apostles 
were all together in one place.... And they wereall filled with 
_ the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with divers tongues, 
according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak” (Acts ii. I, 4). 
Besides the Aramaic of his native Galilee, it is probable that 
S. John knew Greek, which was the lingua franca of the East. 
Greeks are not mentioned amongst those surprised at the Apos- 
tolic display of the gift of tongues. “But Parthians and Medes 
and Elamites and inhabitants of Mesopotamia,’’ are mentioned 
(Acts ii. 9). There is reason to believe, as we shall see 
presently, that S. John spent some years preaching “the 
Kingdom ” in Mesopotamia, where he would have amongst his 
hearers, Parthians, Medes and Elamites. 

S. John seems to have prayed regularly in the Temple, as an 
orthodox Jew. ‘‘ Now Peter and John went upinto the Temple 
at the ninth hour of prayer. And a certain man who was lame 
from his mother’s womb was carried ”’ to the gate of the Temple. 
“He when he had seen Peter and John about to go into the 
Temple asked to receive an alms. But Peter with John fasten- 
ing his eyes upon him, said, Look upon us” (Acts iil. 1, 4). 
Whereupon S. Peter lifted him up and nmiade him sound of 
limb, miraculously, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. 
_“ And as he held Peter and John all the people ran to them to 
the porch, which is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering” 
(Acts iii. 11). S. John was associated with S. Peter in the per- 
formance of this great miracle, and shared with him in the 
honour of it. S. Peter took the opportunity of preaching Jesus 
Christ to the assembled crowds. In this also he appears to 
have been helped by S. John. ‘“ And as they were speaking to 
the people, the priests and the officer of the Temple and the 
Sadducees came upon them. ... And they laid hands upon 
them and put them in hold till the next day, for it was now 
evening” (Acts iv. I-3). They were both imprisoned for the 
night, and next day they were tried before “Annas the high 


6 THE REVELATION 


priest and Caiphas and John and Alexander and as many as 
were of the kindred of the high priest” (Acts iv. 6). “‘ Now 
seeing the constancy of Peter and of John, understanding that 
they were illiterate and ignorant men, they wondered.” .. . 
“They charged them not to speak at all nor teach in the name 
of Jesus. But Peter and John answering said to them. If it 
be just in the sight of God to hear you rather than God, judge 
ye.” ... ‘But they threatening sent them away, because of 
the people” (Acts iv. 13-21). 

As the result of other miraculous cures wrought by S. Peter, 
the Apostles were put in prison. ‘“ And they laid hands on the 
Apostles and put them in the common prison” (Acts ν. 18). 
This was S. John’s second imprisonment. “But an Angel of 
the Lord by night opening the doors of the prison and leading 
them out, said, Go, and standing speak in the Temple to the 
people, all the words of this life’ (Acts v. 19). Accordingly we 
find S. John preaching in the Temple with the other Apostles. 
They were again arrested and brought before the Council, who 
were so cut to the heart by Peter answering, that they 
thought to put them to death. But Gamaliel, a member of the 
Council, dissuaded them from it. Instead of killing them, they 
scourged them and dismissed them with orders not to preach 
Jesus. S. John experienced the lash as well as imprisonment. 
Nevertheless he and the other Apostles every day ceased not in 
the Temple, to teach and preach Christ Jesus (Acts v. 26-42). 
Not long after this S. Stephen was martyred, and a great perse- 
cution was raised against the Church of Jerusalem, so that 
Christians were dispersed through Judea and Samaria, except 
the Apostles. ‘‘ Now when the Apostles who were in Jerusalem 
had heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they 
sent unto them Peter and John” (Acts viii. 14), showing that 
these two great Apostles were looked upon as colleagues. 
Some time after this, when the Church had peace throughout 
all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, S. Peter went visiting all the 
Churches (Acts ix. 31, 32). It seems that on this occasion 
S. John stayed in Jerusalem. In the meanwhile S. Paul had 
been converted and had spent some years evangelising the 
Gentiles with great success. However, some disciples from 
Judea who believed in the necessity of complying with the Old 
Law, came amongst them and taught them, ‘‘ That except you 
be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be 
saved ” (Acts xv. 1). This led to Paul and Barnabas, who 
objected to putting such an imposition on the Gentiles, going 
up to Jerusalem to get the matter settled by the Apostles. A 
council was held at which S. John was present. S. Paul says, 
‘“* And when they had known the grace that was given to me, 


LIFE OF S, JOHN 7 


James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, gave to 
me and Barnabas, the right hands of fellowship, that we should 
go unto the Gentiles and they unto the circumcision” 
(Gal. ii. 9). This was about the year 52 A.D. 

Clement, in the ninth book of his Institutions, says that Peter 
and James and John, after the Ascension of our Saviour, Aisin oe 
they had been preferred by our Lord, did not contend for the 
honour, but chose “ James the Just’? as Bishop of Jerusalem 
(Euseb. H. E. ii. 1). James, the brother of John, was beheaded 
for his faith by Herod Agrippa, c. 42 A.D. (Acts xii. 1 f.). 5. 
Paul recognised James the Just, S. Peter and S. John as pillars 
of the Church of Jerusalem. And he agreed with them that he 
should go unto the Gentiles and they unto the Circumcision. 
S. Peter had but lately returned from Rome, where there was a 
very large colony of Jews. He seems to have been forced to 
leave by the edict of Claudius expelling Jews from Rome, 
c. 51 A.D. He returned to Rome later. The next period of 
S. John’s life is not well documented. 

Here we may pause and review some conditions in the 
Nazarene Church, which appear to be reflected in the Revelation 
of S. John. When our Saviour died the Apostles, according to 
Apollonius (c. 180 A.D.), remained in Jerusalem for twelve years 
(Euseb. Η. E. v.18). The Blessed Virgin was there, and it may 
be supposed that all those who were connected by ties of kindred 
or marriage to the Holy Family and the Apostles, were also 
there and formed the nucleus of the Nazarene Church. 
Thousands of other converts were made by the Apostles. See 
Acts ii. 41 and iv. 4, where eight thousand altogether are men- 
tioned. ‘ And the word of the Lord increased and the number 
of the disciples was multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly, a great 
multitude also of the priests obeyed the faith ” (Acts vi. 7). 

When S. John refers to “the elect,” he has in his mind the 
Nazarene Church, in which he had many friends, and possibly 
relations. All these converts looked to him, especially, for 
guidance as a pillar of the Church, for he was longer associated 
with Jerusalem than S. Peter or any other Apostle. 

In its early days, the Nazarene Church shared its possessions 
and held all things in common. ‘Continuing daily with one 
accord in the Temple” (Acts ii. 44 f. and iv. 32 f.).. S. John 
refers to this in the Revelation as the “first charity” of the 
Church (R. ii. 4). 

“In those days the numbers of the disciples increasing, there 
arose a murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews for that 
their widows were neglected inthe daily ministration ” (Acts vi. I). 
The words used are τῶν Ἑλληνιστῶν πρὸς τοὺς “EBpaious. 
These Greeks were Hellenised Jew converts from Alexandria, the 


8 THE REVELATION 


great cities of Asia Minor, the Isles of Greece, and the con- 
tinent of Europe. Seven officials were appointed to superintend 
the distribution, one of whom was Stephen, the first martyr, 
and another, Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch. The name of this 
Nicolas was drawn into the explanation of parts of the Ephesian 
and Pergamon Letters of the Apocalypse by early Exegetes. 
(See Commentary on Rey. ii. 6 and 15.) 

A fierce persecution of the Nazarene Church took place at the 
time of the martyrdom of S. Stephen. ‘“ Saul made havock of 
the Church entering from house to house and dragging away 
men and women, committed them to prison.” “And they were 
all dispersed through the countries of Judea and Samaria” 
(Acts viii. 1 f.). Living from hand to mouth the Church was 
free to leave Jerusalem at a moment’s notice. The scattered 
disciples sowed the seed of Christianity in the countries of 
Judea. So that there was a considerable number of Jewish 
Christians outside Jerusalem when the Roman army of invasion 
appeared in Judea. These also must be warned in time to fly to 
Pella. The Revelation was sent by S. John in time to warn 
them. We shall have more of this in the Commentary. 

To come back to the life of S. John. It is probable that not 
long after the Council of Jerusalem he set out to preach to the 
Jews of Mesopotamia. He spent the next ten years of his life 
wandering about the valley of the Euphrates and Tigris. We 
have more than one reference to the Euphrates in the Reve- 
lation. Here he would be constantly in touch with Parthians. 

There is a tradition that S. John spent some years in Parthia 
before taking up the Apostolate of the cities of Asia Minor. 
There are references to Parthia in his Revelation. In 5. 
Augustine’s Quest Evang. (I. 3, c. 39), the first epistle of S. John 
is addressed ‘‘ad Parthos.” The sameappears insome Latin MSS. 
Venerable Bede supports this tradition. Alban Butler affirms 
that some missionaries before his time, 1750, reported that the 
inhabitants of Bassora (a city at the mouth of the Tigris and 
Euphrates), related a tradition, received from their ancestors, 
that S. John planted the Christian faith in their country. 
Layard, in his wanderings between Mosul, on the Tigris, and 
Lake Van in Armenia, found two rock-cut tablets at the mouth 
of a cave near the village of Gunduk. The cave is called Guppa 
d’Mar Yohanna, or the “Cave of S. John,” by the Nestorian 
Kurds who inhabit the district. One of these bas-reliefs appears 
to be of Christian origin (Nineveh and Babylon, p. 188). The 
patriarch of the Nestorian Kurds lived at a place called 
Kotchannes, a name apparently derived from Yohannes. This 
place is on the foot-hills of the highlands of Armenia. In S. 
John’s wanderings in the region of the Persian Gulf he would 


LIFE OF 5. JOHN 9 


be in frequent contact with Parthians, Armenians, and Hindus, 
many of the latter bearing, painted on their dark foreheads, a 
red or yellow mark, the insignia of their Gods. ‘The talk of the 
Mesopotamian bazaars would be of Roman defeats and Parthian 
victories. For more than a hundred years Parthia and Rome - 
had been at war with varying results. The celebrated defeats 
of Crassus and Anthony had lowered the prestige of Rome. 
The Parthians no longer looked upon Rome as invincible. For 
many years the struggle had been for the possession of the 
Kingdom of Armenia. In the year 52, Tiridates, the Arsacid, 
was placed on the Armenian throne by Parthia. War followed. 
Czsennius Pius, the Roman General, was defeated and capitu- 
lated in the year 62. As the outcome of this defeat, it was 
agreed that Tiridates should go to Rome to be crowned King 
of Armenia by Nero, as if the gift of the crown came from 
Nero. These events took place during S. John’s mission in the 
East. We find a picture of Tiridates, symbolising a con- 
queror of Rome, in the Revelation, with the remark, ‘and a 
crown was given to him” (R. vi. 2). 

About this time, a.p. 62, S. James, called the Just, was put 
to death at the instance of Ananus the younger (Josephus Ants. 
Xx. 9, 1). He was Bishop of the Nazarene Church of Jerusalem 
(Acts xxi. 18). 

Eusebius says that there is a report that the Apostles and 
disciples, who were then living, went to Jerusalem to choose a 
successor to James, in the headship of the Church, and elected 
Simeon, the son of Cleophas (H. E. iii. 11). This would 
probably have caused S. John to return from the East. His 
solicitude for the Church at Jerusalem is well known. The 
time required for his journey from Mesopotamia and stay in 
Jerusalem would bridge the interval between the death of 
S. James, and the appearance of S. John at Ephesus, about the 
year 64. 

It is generally admitted that S. John was not at Ephesus 
when S. Paul wrote from Rome his Epistles to the Colossians, 
Ephesians, and to Timothy. S. Paul founded the Church of 
Ephesus and placed Timothy there as Bishop. In his Epistles 
he writes with the transparent freedom of one in a position of 
unchallenged authority. Hesocompletely ignores the existence 
of another apostle at Ephesus, that we may infer that the 
great Apostle S. John was not living there then. In the year 
64, before Nero’s persecutions broke out, S. Paul left Rome on 
a Missionary tour in Spain. It is probable that S. John 
arrived at Ephesus later in the year 64. 

S. John’s movements do not appear to have been affected in 
any way by Roman persecution up to this time. 


10 THE REVELATION 


S. Paul, we have seen, was accused by the Jews, before Felix, 
the Governor of Judea, of being the author of the seditious sect 
of the Nazarenes. He nevertheless boldly preached the 
Christian faith to the Governor, who found no wrong in him, 
but kept him bound to please the Jews. Two years later, 
Festus, the new Governor, was besought by the Jews, who 
wanted to kill S. Paul. Festus brought him to trial, but as 
5. Paul, a Roman citizen, appealed to Cesar, the Governor 
decided to send him to Cesar. This Cesar was Nero. King 
Agrippa and his wife, Bernice, in the company of Festus, again 
examined S. Paul, before he left for Rome. Again S. Paul 
publicly preached Jesus of Nazareth. ‘‘And Agrippa said to 
Paul, In a little thou persuadest me to become a Christian. 
And Agrippa said to Festus, This man might have been set at 
liberty if he had not appealed to Cesar” (Acts xxvi. 28 f.). This 
happened about a.p. 61. It shows that no edict of Nero’s 
against Christianity was then known at Jerusalem, or con- 
sequently at Ephesus. S. Paul when at Rome was allowed to, 
dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. Here he wrote 
his epistles and preached the Gospel of Christ, “ without pro- 
hibition” (Acts xxviii. 30, 31). 

When S. John came to Ephesus a new civilization opened 
out before him. He found a city in which the arts of Greece 
and Rome were wedded to the gorgeous inspiration of the East 
by wealth and power; a city steeped in luxury and vice. Its 
temple of Diana was one of the wonders of the world. Several 
of its hundred columns were adorned with life-size figures, 
sculptured in bold relief. On its altars were statues by 
Praxiteles and Phidias. It had its stadia, baths, basilicas, 
temples, and private mansions, rivalling those of Rome. 
Great streams of commerce flowing west to Rome, passed 
through its port, merchandise of gold and silver, precious 
stones and pearls, fine linen and silk, purple and scarlet, 
vessels of ivory, brass, and iron, etc. (R. xviii. 12). 

Smyrna and Pergamos rivalled Ephesus in wealth and 
magnificence. This rivalry was especially marked as regards 
the Niokérate. The title of Newxopos was conferred by the 
Senate upon a provincial town which erected and dedicated a 
temple and games to the Imperial Gods. Smyrna, Pergamos, 
and Sardis had each in turn obtained the Niokérate. When 
S. John came upon the scene all the great cities around him were 
devoted to Cesar worship. The Hellenised Asiatics were used 
to hero worship. They liked it. They even clamoured for the 
honour of erecting temples to the Cesars, as soon as their 
apotheosis came into view. S. John saw that Caesar worship 
was the chief obstacle to the spread of Christianity. It 


LIFE OF S. JOHN 11 


not only identified the Imperial religion with loyalty to the 
Empire. It subjected both religion and loyalty to the sway 
of one whose vices were hallowed by the honour which clothes 
a divinity. . 

S. John’s Revelation shows how he was moved to fight 
against it with all the energy and fire of prophetic denunciation. 
The time was at hand when the conflict between Czesar worship 
and Christianity would soak the stadia of Rome with Christian 
blood. At the close of the year 64 news reached Ephesus of 
startling events at Rome; how the Christians were accused of 
having set fire to Rome, and were being massacred by order of 
Nero: and how the chief of the Apostles, S. Peter, was first 
among the slain. 

Some two years later, at the beginning of 67, S. John is 
believed to have been arrested at Ephesus and banished to 
Patmos ‘‘ for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” 
(R. i. 9). Persecution spread slowly from Rome to Ephesus. 
The charge of arson which gave rise to the attack on the 
Christians of Rome, and gave some apparent justification to 
the severity of their treatment, could not be laid against their 
co-religionists in the Province of Asia. Religious persecution 
was in those days contrary to the foreign policy of the Empire. 
The Roman world was getting tired of the tyranny of Nero. 
The frequent executions of Christians, who were for the most 
part Italians or barbarians, produced a reaction against Nero. 
The formidable conspiracy of Piso, which took place in the year 
65, showed that public opinion was turning against him. 
Tacitus puts it on record that ‘It was evident that they (the 
Christians) fell a sacrifice, not to the public good, but to glut 
the rage and cruelty of one man” (Anls. xiv. 44). 

The circumstances of S. John’s banishment to Patmos are 
not exactly known. His own statement, “I John... was in 
the island which is called Patmos, for the word of God and for 
the testimony of Jesus” (R. 1. 9) is open to the interpretation 
that he went to Patmos to receive the Revelation. But there 
is the unanimous tradition of the early Church that he was 
banished to Patmos for the word of God as an act of persecu- 
tion. If Nero’s edicts regarding Christians were enforced in 
Asia Minor that might be. But Nero was at that time, the end 
of A.D. 66, so proud of his Olympian successes, that’ he 
enfranchised the Greeks, who were high in his favour. But 
Hellenised Asia was to Greece what Canada is to England, and 
persecution there would not be in harmony with Nero's attitude 
towards Greece. 

It is very important to note the chief political and social 
events which impressed S. John’s mind when he was exiled to 


12 THE REVELATION 


Patmos. They gave him his last impressions of the world 
beyond his prison. They were fixed as a photograph on his 
mind, and would naturally be reflected in his writings. 

Tiridates, the Arsacid, had just gone to Rome to be crowned 
King of Armenia. Nero strove to turn this incident into a 
Roman triumph by a lavish display of pomp and pageantry. 
The signs of the impending fall of Jerusalem were as the writ- 
ing on the wall at Baltassar’s feast. In the year 65 Gessius 
Florus, the Roman Procurator of Jesusalem so maltreated the 
Jews that he tried to procure them to make a revolt (Josephus 
Wars ii. 15). In the year 66 he seized the Temple treasure 
and crucified many of the Jews. Seditions and fighting 
followed. Florus was driven out of Jerusalem. Then Eleazar, 
Governor of the Temple, refused to offer up the customary 
sacrifice for Cesar. Josephus says, ‘‘ This was the true begin- 
ning of our war with the Romans” (Wars ii.17). Late in the 
year 66, Cestius appeared before the walls of Jerusalem, with an 
army. These were the signs foretold to S. John, of the fall of 
the Temple (Luke xxi. 20). For two long years the bitter cry 
of the martyrs of Rome, ‘‘ How long O Lord,” had been ringing 
in his ears. 8. Peter was dead. S. John stood alone, the last 
of the Apostles, who had seen and handled the Word of life 
(x Jhn.1). The burthen of the Church seemed to rest upon his 
shoulders. The contest between Ceesar Worship and Christianity 
had reached the shores of Asia. He was a prisoner, sentenced 
to exile. The outlook of the Church was of the blackest. But 
the darkest hour comes before the dawn. The magisterial 
decree which transferred S. John from the stress of Church 
leadership at Ephesus to a lonely island in the neighbouring 
Egean Sea, was in the design of Providence a preparation for 
his great Revelation. 

Whether owing to persecution, or not, S. John went to 
Patmos at a most important crisis in the history of the Church. 
We must look for the genesis of his Revelation in the circum- 
stances of the time. His life had been spared by our Lord, in 
order that he might warn the Nazarene Church of the advent of 
the great catastrophe which was to befall the Temple and the 
Jewish race. It was about to come to pass. The Revelation is 
addressed to the Servants of God, the Jewish leaders of the 
Church, ‘‘to make known to his servants the things which 
must shortly come to pass” (R. i. 1). That appears to be the 
immediate cause of the Revelation. The denunciation of 
Czesar worship seems to have been its secondary cause. 

Victorinus, in his Latin Commentary on the Apoc. (c. 300) 
says that S. John was condemned to “the mines of Patmos” i 
metallum damnatus. This would indicate hard labour. A 


LIFE OF 5. JOHN 13 


visitor to Patmos, some twenty-five years ago, found stone 
quarries of uncertain date, in the hills in the north of the 
island, but no trace of mines (T. C. Fitzpatrick, Christ Coll. 
Mag., 1867). The Romans had two forms of banishment, one 
deportatio, which was for life, with loss of rights and property. 
This sentence was reserved to the Emperor and the City 
Prefect of Rome. The other, relegatio, was not always for life, 
and did not interfere with civil rights and property. S. John 
was not banished from Rome, or by direct sentence of the 
Emperor. The Romans were not banished to Patmos. He 
therefore suffered relegatio. ‘Tertullian twice applies the term 
velegatio to the banishment of S. John (Apol. 5 De Praes Haeret 
c. 36) and S. Jerome uses the same word. There is reason to 
believe that exiled Bishops of the early Church were allowed a 
good deal of latitude. Dionysius of Alexandria was permitted to 
preach the Gospel to the Libyans, whilst suffering banishment 
(Euseb. H. E. vii. 11). It is possible that S. John, at Patmos, 
had equal freedom. 

S. John’s first care, at Patmos, would be to warn his beloved 
Nazarene Church to flee from Jerusalem. On the Lord’s day, or 
Christian Sunday, he sought guidance in fervent prayer. He 
was in the Spirit and heard behind him ‘‘a great voice’’ which 
gave him this Revelation (R. i. 10). He was told of the com- 
pletion of the martyr’s roll, of the destruction of the Temple 
and the punishment of the Jews, of the ruin of Rome and fall of 
the Empire. And he was ordered to write a Book about it. 
“Write therefore the things which thou hast seen and which 
are and which must be done hereafter” (R. i. 19). This Book, 
“the Revelation,” contained so much matter that would be con- 
sidered treasonable by Roman magistrates, that he veiled its 
meaning in a cypher of Old Testament symbolism, intelligible 
to the Servants of God, but unknown to the Roman world. 

The Book was a manuscript, written on papyrus, a paper 
made on the banks of the Nile from the Egyptian paper reed. 
The Apocalypse formed a bulky volume. It was laboriously 
inscribed in Greek uncials, or capital letters, and must have 
taken a long time to write. Papyrus paper was very awkward 
to manipulate, requiring the smooth support of a board or table 
on which to write. It would not lend itself to hurried or secret 
writing. S. John’s book and his labours upon it must have 
attracted public attention. Under no system of Roman disci- 
pline could his writing have passed unchallenged. It is probable 
that some of S, John’s guards and fellow exiles were converted 
to Christianity and with their aid the book was written and 
smuggled off to Ephesus. The passage of ships from the 
safe harbour of Patmos to the neighbouring port of Ephesus, 


14 THE REVELATION 


would facilitate the transmission, and changing guards and the 
release of exiles would afford the opportunity. The Book was 
sent to S. John’s followers at Ephesus, probably with verbal 
instructions to keep it a profound secret. It was a dangerous 
charge. If its meaning leaked out it would involve everyone in 
any way connected with it, in the penalty of death. 

A copy of it shouid be sent at once to the Churches of 
Jerusalem and Rome. That was not an easy task, for Jeru- 
salem was at war with Rome, and Rome was at war with the 
Church. There is evidence, however, that the Book was 
despatched and reached Jerusalem and Rome early in the year 
67 A.D. 

Si the month of June, 68, Nero died by the sword, hated and 
despised. S. John was released from Patmos and returned to 
Ephesus. He probably then took the safe custody of his book 
into his own hands. The denunciations of Czsar worship in it 
are but thinly veiled. Although persecutions ceased, the insti- 
tutes of Nero—Institutum Neronianum—regarding Christianity, 
remained unrepealed and constituted a species of outlawry against 
Christians (Tertullian Ad Nat. i. 17). For the time being a 
dead letter, they might easily be revived if the passions of the 
mob were again inflamed against Christians. There were 
Hellenised Jews in the Cities of Asia, who could understand 
the Revelation, and who would gladly wrest it to the destruction 
of Christianity. 

There was a custom observed in the early Church of conceal- 
ing from unseasoned Christians as well as from pagans the 
more intimate mysteries of religion. Political dangers as well 
as the fear, of sacrilege prompted this secretiveness. It rested 
also on the words Of our Saviour (Matt. vii. 6). 8. Paul alludes 
to it in 1 Cor. ili. 1-2 and in Heb. v. 12-14. It was known as 
“the Discipline of the Secret.” Catechumens were not taught 
the doctrines of confirmation, holy orders, and the Holy 
Eucharist until they were considered worthy of being made full 
members of the Church. The graphic art of the early church 
illustrates the same law. It was symbolism of the most recon- 
dite character. A common symbol was a fish. The Greek 
word for fish is *Iy@vs. These Greek letters form the initials of 
asentence. ᾿Ϊησοῦς Χριστός Θεοῦ Vids Σωτήρ. “ Jesus Christ, 
Son of God, Saviour.” A fish painted over a tomb signified a 
baptised christian. 

Apart from political and religious motives of secrecy, there 
were insuperable difficulties in the way of explaining the 
Apocalypse to the men of the first century. They could not 
understand events which were to happen centuries after their 
time. Even the “Servants of God” could not know anything 


LIFE OF S. JOHN τς 


about the Kings of the Goths, the Huns, the Vandals, and 
others, who were to conquer and partition the Empire. 
Rome was a solid and imperishable fact in the first century. 
Christians were touched with the pride of Empire, and felt the 
honour of the “ Civis Romanus sum.” 

It is not probable that more than three copies of the 
Apocalypse existed before the year 96, viz., one at Jerusalem, 
one at Ephesus, and one at Rome. We know that the Church 
of Jerusalem was warned in time and fled to Pella. We know 
that the Book reached Rome before Hebrew Christians ceased to 
have influence in the Church there. S. Paulmay have been there 
in the year 67. There is evidence that the Book was understood. 
S. Irenzus of Lyons tells us (c. 170 A.D.) that amongst the 
copies of the Apocalypse he found in the West, some had the 
number of the Beast inscribed as 616, instead of 666. The 
name of Nero Cesar, im Latin, written in Hebrew letters, makes 
in gematria, 616. Some Hebrew Latin scribe, acquainted with 
that fact, must have made a marginal note to that effect. To 
know that Nero was the Beast was to understand the political 
allusions of the Book, and that, at Rome, would necessitate its 
being kept in concealment. 

Soon after S. John’s return from Patmos the prophecies of the 
O.T. regarding the Jews were fulfilled. In the year 70 the 
Temple was destroyed, Jerusalem sacked, and the people en- 
slaved. The cleavage between the Old Law and the New, was 
complete. The Kingdom of Christ stood alone. A great part 
of the prophecies of Revelation was accomplished, and what 
remained related chiefly to the political forecast regarding 
Rome. 9. John locked these things up in his own mind. His 
Hebrew brethren died out, and left him alone in the midst 
of a Gentile Church. He had no inducement to expound the 
Apocalypse to Gentile Christians. 

We gather from a book by S. Clement of Alexandria 
(c. 150, 215 A.D.), “‘ Who is the rich man that shall be saved,” 
that when S. John returned to Ephesus from Patmos he led a 
strenuous missionary life. Clement says: On the death of the 
tyrant S. John returned to Ephesus. The title tyrant, belonged 
to Nero pre-eminently. 

It may be noted that Clement’s statement concerning the 
Apostle’s missionary activity after his return from Patmos is not 
a mere passing assertion, but is based on a detailed account of 
an episode which, if only substantially true, would go far to 
establish the point that S. John was banished long before old 
age had disabled him from missionary effort. 

This well-known legend is quoted at length by Eusebius 
(ΗΕ. E. 111. 23). Clement begins: 


16: THE REVELATION 


“Listen to a story that is no fiction, but a real history, handed 
down and carefully preserved, respecting the Apostle John. For 
after the tyrant was dead, coming from the Isle of Patmos to 
Ephesus, he went also, when called, to neighbouring regions of the 
Gentiles; in some to appoint bishops, in some to institute entirely 
new churches, in others to appoint to the ministry some one of those 
that were pointed out by the Holy Ghost.” ‘ When he came, 
therefore, to one of those cities, at no great distance, of which some 
also give the name, and had in other respects consoled his brethren, 
he at last turned towards the bishop ordained [appointed] and seeing 
a youth of fine stature, graceful countenance and ardent mind, he 
said, ‘Him I commend to you with all earnestness, in the presence 
of the Church and of Christ.” The bishop having taken him and 
promised all, he repeated and testified the same thing, and then 
returned to Ephesus, The Presbyter, taking the youth home that 
was committed to him, educated, restrained and cherished him, and 
at length baptised him. After this he relaxed exercising his former 
care and vigilance, as if he had now committed him to a perfect 
safeguard in the seal of the Lord; but certain idle, dissolute fellows, 
familiar with every kind of wickedness, unhappily attached them- 
selves to him, thus prematurely freed from restraint. 

“ At length, renouncing the salvation of God, he contemplated no 
trifling offence, but having committed some great crime, since he 
was now once ruined, he expected to suffer equally with the rest. 
Taking, therefore, these same associates, and forming them into a 
band of robbers, he became their captain, surpassing them all in 
violence, blood and cruelty. .. . 

«Time elapsed, and on a certain occasion the bishop sent for John. 
The Apostle, after settling those other matters for which he came, 
said, ‘Come, bishop, return me my deposit, which I and Christ 
committed to thee in the presence of the Church over which thou 
dost preside.’ The bishop at first, indeed, was confounded, thinking 
that he was insidiously charged for money which he had not received, 
and yet he could neither give credit respecting that which he had 
not, nor yet disbelieve John. But when he said, ‘I demand the 
young man, and the soul of a brother,’ the old man, groaning heavily 
and also weeping, said ‘He is dead.’ ‘How, and what death?’ 
‘He is dead to God,’ saith he; ‘he has turned out wicked and 
abandoned, and at last a robber, and now, instead of attending the 
Church, he has beset the mountain with a band like himself.’ The 
Apostle, on hearing this, tore his garment, and beating his head, 
with great lamentation, said, ‘1 left a fine keeper of a brother’s soul! 
But let a horse now be got ready, and someone to guide me on my 
way.’ He rode as he was, away from the Church, and, coming to 
the country, was taken prisoner by the outguard of the banditti, 
He neither attempted, however, to flee, nor refused to be taken, but 
cried out: ‘For this very purpose am I come; conduct me to your 
captain.’ He in the meantime stood waiting, armed as he was. 
But as he recognised John advancing towards him, overcome with 


ΕΣ 


LIFE OF 8. JOHN 17 


shame, he turned about to flee. The Apostle, however, pursued him 
with all his might, forgetful of his age, and crying out: ‘ Why dost 
thou fly, my son, from me, thy father, thy defenceless, aged father ?’” 


The upshot of this pursuit was that the robber captain yielded 
to S. John, and was converted again to a life of Christian piety. 

Such is the story told as “mo fiction but a real history” by 
Clement of Alexandria, and enshrined by Eusebius, the 
historian of the early Church, in his collection of historical 
facts. Clement tells us elsewhere that some of the immediate 
successors of the Apostles SS. Peter, James, John, and Paul, 
** have lived down to our time, to shed into our hearts the seed 
which they had received of the Apostles, their predecessors ”’ 
(Strom. 1. 1. p. 274; and Euseb. H. E. v. 11). 

Clement was much esteemed by theancients. S. Jerome calls 
him “the most learned of our authors.” According to Theo- 
doret, “ That holy man surpassed all others in the extent of his 
learning.” 

There is a school of exegetes who hold that S. John was exiled 
to Patmos in Domitian’s reign, about the year 96. At that 
time S. John was about I00 years of age! The commonly 
received date of our Lord’s Nativity, found by Dionysius 
Exiguus, in the 6th century, has long been known to be 
incorrect. The early Fathers, Irenzeus, Clement of Alexandria, 
and Hippolytus, put it at what we must now call 3 B.c. But 
the latest researches show that our Lord was born about 7 B.c. 
C. H. Turner, M.A., “ Chronology, Biblical” in the Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica, 1902, dates the Nativity at 7-6 B.c. 
Dom Howlett, M.A., in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1908), 
“ Chronology,” summing up his article on this subject says, 
“Tertullian and Irenzus are nearer to the truth with the years 
2 or 3 B.C.; but it must be placed still further back, and 
probably the year 7 B.c. will not be found to be much astray.” 
Colonel Mackinlay, who has made a special study of this 
subject, in his book, “‘ The Magi,” 1908, puts the date at 7 B.c. 
Assuming, therefore, that S. John was three years younger than 
our Lord, he was about one hundred years of age in Domitian’s 
persecution of 96. 

We need not insist on the point that if S. John returned from 
Patmos at the end of Domitian’s reign he was quite incapable 
of the strenuous missionary labours above described. 

One of the great troubles of S. John’s missionary career was 
the prevalence of false teachers, men who taught heresy, 
claiming to have received the Holy Ghost, and even to have 
been followers of our Lord. Our Saviour warned the Christian 


world of the advent of such men (Matt. vii. 15; xxiv. II; 
2 


18 THE REVELATION 


Mark xiii. 22). S. Peter refers to them (2 Peter ii. 1), and- 
S. John in his Epistles, ‘“‘ Dearly beloved, believe not every 
spirit, but try the spirits, if they be of God, because many false 
prophets are gone out into the world” (1 Jhn. iv. 1). S. John 
calls them Antichrists. He refers to them in the Apocalypse 
(R. ii. 2). They are liars (R. xxi. 8, 27; xxii. 15). 

S. Irenzus in his third book, “ Against Heresies,” relates a 
story told by 5. Polycarp, a disciple of S. John. “And there 
are those still living who heard him relate that John, the 
disciple of the Lord, went into a bath at Ephesus, and seeing 
Cerinthus within, ran out without bathing, and exclaimed, 
‘Let us flee lest the bath should fall in, as long as Cerinthus, 
that enemy of truth, is within’’” (Euseb. H. E. iv. 14). In 
another place Eusebius says that S. John “leaped out of the 
place and fled from the door” (H. E. iii. 28). S. Irenzus 
probably refers to himself as one of those ‘still living’? who 
heard this from S. Polycarp, for he was a hearer of S. Polycarp. 
This Cerinthus was a gnostic, Ebionite heretic, who denied the 
Divinity and virgin birth of Jesus Christ. He made a dis- 
tinction between the man Jesus and the Christ, God. He was 
an Egyptian who conformed to the Jewish law. We shall hear 
much of him later, in connection with the millennium, and the 
authorship of the Revelation, which has been attributed to him ! 
S. John’s Gospel is said to have been published partly with a 
view to refuting him. 

S. John’s first Epistle, sometimes called the Epistle to the 
Parthians, seems to have been written at Ephesus, in the 
darkest hour of his ministry, after the death of S. Peter. A 
Roman army stood before the walls of Jerusalem. The ful- 
filment of the Temple prophecy was at hand and the end of all 
things seemed to be in sight. He begins by declaring that he 
had seen and handled the Word of Life. Afterwards he goes 
on to the consideration of Antichrist, who was expected by the 
Jews to appear towards the end of the world. He says, “ Little 
children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that Anti- 
christ cometh, even now there are become many Antichrists, 
whereby we know that it is the last hour. .. . And now little 
children, abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have 
confidence and not be confounded by him at his coming” 
(1 Jhn. ii. 18, 28). 

In this Epistle to his Parthian followers, S. John settles the 
question of Antichrist for us. There is no mention of Anti- 
christ anywhere in the Sacred Scriptures except in this Epistle. 
S. John sets the whole weight of his authority against the view 
that Antichrist will be a demon incarnate or a man possessed of 
the devil, wielding supernatural powers. He goes on to say, 


LIFE OF 8. JOHN 19 


* Who is a liar but he who denieth that Jesus is the Christ. 
He is Antichrist who denieth the Father and the Son” 
(1 Jhn. ii. 22). ‘‘ And every spirit that dissolveth Jesus is not 
of God and this is Antichrist of whom you have heard that he 
cometh and he is now already in the world” (1 Jhn. iv. 3). 
According to S. John, Antichrist is a movement rather than 
a man. 

It will be observed that S. John calls him a kar who denies 
that Jesus is the Christ. He has in mind the false prophets of 
his day. In the Revelation he shows hell to be their portion. 
The same type of ψευδέσι still exists in our day. 

S. John’s second and third Epistles are very short, because 
he looked forward to meeting his friends again at Ephesus. 
These Epistles appear to have been written at Patmos, after 
the Revelation, at the end of his sojourn on the Island. He 
writes to Gaius, “1 had many things to write unto thee, but 
I would not by ink and pen write to thee, but I hope speedily 
to see thee, and we will speak, face to face” (3 Jhn. 13 f.). 

_ The second and third Epistles were written to personal 
friends at Ephesus in a somewhat familiar vein. They open 
with the words, O IIPESBTTEPO>—“ The Presbyter,” “To 
the lady elect,’’—“* To the dearly beloved Gaius.” Presbuteros 
meant a superior. ‘O Πρεσβύτερος was an elder of the Jewish 
Council. It seems that S. John was familiarly known at 
Ephesus as the Presbyter. Papias who collected “the sayings 
of our Lord” from the followers of the Apostles, and who lived 
at Hierapolis in 5. John’s province, called him “the Presbyter”’ 
in his book, written early in the second century. He wrote of 
*‘ John the Presbyter ” in connection with the other Apostles. 

The second and third Epistles of S. John are free from all 
“ parousial”’ influence, as we should expect them to be if they 
were written after the Revelation. But Cerinthus and his kind 
were working evil, and S. John refers to them in his second 
Epistle, ‘To the lady.” ‘‘For many seducers are gone out 
into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come in 
the flesh, this is a seducer and an Antichrist” (2 Jhn. 7). 
S. John repudiates the Antichrist anthropomorphic tradition, 
again, after receiving his Revelation. 

There is a tradition that S. John’s Gospel was written ten 
years after the Apocalypse. That would be about the year 77. 
Eusebius quoting S. Irenzeus, and Clement of Alexandria says, 
“John’s Gospel was published at Ephesus in Asia, at the 
request of his friends to supplement the Gospels of Matthew, 
Mark and Luke.” Also to confute Ebion and Cerinthus (H. E. 
I. 6,14. S. Hier. in Cat.). In the year 77, 8. John was about 
eighty years of age, still in the enjoyment of vigorous life and 


20 THE REVELATION 


unimpaired memory. His followers were anxious to obtain his 
Gospel before age and infirmity told upon him. His Gospel 
differs in one respect very remarkably from that of the other 
Evangelists. They relate the signs which will precede and 
warn the Hebrew Christians of the destruction of Jerusalem. 
He omits that prediction, although he alone of the four 
Evangelists, heard it from the lips of our Lord. The conclu- 
sion is permissible that they wrote before the fall of the 
Temple. Whereas he had warned the Nazarene Church by 
means of the Revelation, and wrote his Gospel long after the 
event. 

S. John died when Trajan came to the throne in the year 98. 
S. Irenzus says that he lived till the time of Trajan. “ And all 
the presbyters of Asia that had conferred with John the disciple 
of our Lord testify that John had delivered it (sound doctrine) 
to them ; for he continued with them until the time of Trajan” 
(Cont. Her., B.ii.). Again, “‘ But the Church in Ephesus also, 
which had been founded by Paul and where John continued to 
abide until the time of Trajan” (Cont. Her., B. iii.). 5. Jerome 
relates that age and weakness grew upon S. John so that he 
was no longer able to preach or make long discourses to the 
people. He used always to be carried to the assembly of the 
faithful by his disciples, with great difficulty; and every time 
said to his flock only these words; ‘‘ My dear children, love one 
another.”” When his audience wearied with hearing constantly 
the same thing, asked him why he always repeated the same 
words, he replied: ‘‘ Because it is the precept of the Lord, and 
if you comply with it, you do enough” (S. Hier. in Galat., 
c. vi. See Jhn. xiii. 34, and xv. 12). 

Here it is worthy of note that there were no churches in 
those days. Assemblies of the faithful were held in private 
houses, in which the Apostles, generally, lived. It is therefore 
probable that S. John was so enfeebled in the year 98, that he 
had to be carried from one part of the house to another. 

S. John was, and is, greatly reverenced by Greek Christians, 
who call him “ The Divine.” 

His feast is kept by the Church on the 27th December, 
and by the Greeks on the 26th September. 

He died and was buried at Ephesus. Eusebius says, “ the 
place of his burial is shown from the Epistle of Polycrates, who 
was bishop of the Church of Ephesus, which Epistle he wrote 
to Victor, bishop of Rome.” In this Epistle he writes: 
“‘ Moreover, John that rested on the bosom of our Lord, who 
was a priest that bore the sacerdotal plate, and martyr and 
teacher, he also rests at Ephesus” (H. E. iii. 31). Polycrates 
was bishop of Ephesus A.D. Igo. 


LIFE OF S. JOHN 21 


S. John was buried in the mountains above the town of 
Ephesus. His tomb attracted many pilgrims, and became a 
famous shrine. Miracles were wrought there. Even the dust 
of his tomb was venerated as holy, and carried away into far 
countries by pilgrims (S. Aug. Hom. 124, in Joan; 5. Ephrem. 
Ant. Ap. Phot. Cod. 220; S. Gregory, Tur. de Glor. Mart., 
c. 30). There could be no mistake or doubt about his tomb. 
If other Johns were buried at Ephesus, the famous tomb of 
5. John had no rival. Justinian, a.p. 500, built a Basilica, 
called the Church of S. John, over the tomb. 

Ancient Ephesus was ruined by the Seljuk Turks in 
10go A.D. It was rebuilt on the heights surrounding the 
Basilica, by the Byzantines, and renamed Hagios Theologos, 
‘* The Divine Theologian,” 5. John’s title in the Greek Church. 
A hundred years later the Turks again took it and converted 
the Basilica into a mosque. In the year 1403, the hordes of 
Timur Leng destroyed Ephesus altogether. 


II 
HISTORY OF THE BOOK 


Ir has been assumed in the biography of S. John, that on his 
return from Patmos, he took the custody of the Apocalypse 
into his own hands and kept a vigilant guard over it. The 
Neronian decrees were alive in principle, though dormant in 
practice, and there was that in the Apocalypse which would 
revive persecution if its contents were known. 

Nothing happened to disturb this state of affairs for the rest 
of S. John’s active life. But towards the close of the year 96, 
when he was in extreme old age, startling rumours of Roman 
persecution reached Ephesus from Corinth. It was rumoured 
that the Emperor Domitian, in a dynastic panic, had put to 
death almost all those who were eminent for virtue at Rome, 
and that many Christians were involved in this persecution. 

Clemens Romanus, the fourth Pope, who was then at Rome, 
wrote an Epistle to the Church at Corinth (see ‘‘ Historic 
Notes ’’), in which he referred to persecution as impending, or 
begun, at Rome. He even compared the persecution with that 
of Nero, suggesting that it was the outcome of new and fierce 
Antichristian legislation. Domitian died in the month of 
September A.D. 96. The Epistle was written about that time. 
It gave rise, at Corinth, to an alarm of persecution, and the 
news spread quickly to the East. Rumour, like a river, gathers 
volume as it flows. We may be sure that when the news 
reached Ephesus, at the end of 96, the leaders of the Church 
consulted anxiously together, to prepare for the coming 
persecution. 

It was known that the Revelation of S. John, written in the 
time of Nero, was a help to the persecuted Church. His 
Revelation was sought and found. S. John apparently refrained 
from explaining its esoteric meanings. His reasons for doing 
so were as strong as ever. Besides, he was too old to take an 
active part in this exciting rally. He died of old age, two years 
later. Churchmen copied the Apocalypse freely, both at Ephesus 
and Rome. They circulated it to the Churches of the East and 


West. But the meaning of it was lost. This multiplication of 
22 


HISTORY OF THE BOOK 23 


copies shows that the dangers lurking in the political allusions 
of the Apocalypse were quite unknown. 

The old Hebrew Servants of God were dead, “ The kingdom” 
had passed into the hands of the Gentiles. On the fall of 
Jerusalem, the primacy of the East passed to Antioch, a Gentile 
Church, where first the followers of Christ were known as 
Christians. At Rome, Linus, a native of Volterra, succeeded 
S. Peter. He was followed by Cletus in the second year of 
Titus, A.D. 81 (Euseb. H. E. iii. 13). Cletus was a Roman 
by birth. Clemens Romanus, the fourth Pope, living in the 
year 96, was also a Roman. The bishops of the Church in 
that year were everywhere, except at Jerusalem, men of 
Gentile birth. Even the Church of Jerusalem was drifting 
into the hands of Gentiles. Eusebius says of Hadrian’s 
war with the Jews (A.D. 134): “Since this event we have 
shown that this Church consisted of Gentiles after those 
of the circumcision, and that Marcus was the first Bishop of 
the Gentiles that presided there” (H. E. v. 12). It seems 
probable, moreover, that the Gentile leaders of the Early 
Church were out of sympathy with the Jews and their 
religion. The Hebrew Scriptures were disliked as Jewish. 
The O.T. cypher of Revelation must have entirely escaped 
the knowledge of these men. It is certain that only those 
who were well acquainted with the verbal details of the 
Hebrew prophecies of the Old Law, could unravel the mysteries 
of the Apocalypse. 

We assume that the Book was published and disseminated 
widely towards the close of Domitian’s reign, and that later 
writers would connect the Book with that date. 

Cerinthus, the Gnostic, of Ephesus, made the first attempt at 
Exegesis. He was not in the least likely to have seen the Book 
before this time. “That enemy of truth,” as S. John called 
him, was the last person to whom he would have shown his 
Revelation. Cerinthus was deeply impressed with the parousial 
views of the first century. He seized upon that part of Reve- 
lation containing the passage, “‘ They lived and reigned with 
Christ a thousand years” (R. xx. 4), and gave it a grossly 
material interpretation. Caius, a Roman Presbyter, who lived 
about a hundred years later, tells us something about him. 
** But Cerinthus said that after the resurrection there would be 
an earthly Kingdom of Christ, and that the flesh—7.e., men— 
again inhabiting Jerusalem, would be subject to desires and 
pleasures, that there would be a space of a thousand years for 
celebrating nuptial festivals” (Euseb. H. E. iii. 28). This 
Cerinthian view of a chiliad of years of sensual pleasures got 
the name of ‘“Chiliasm.” It was accepted, with modifications 


24 THE REVELATION 


as to the nature of the earthly happiness, by a large and ever- 
widening circle, whose chastened view of the thousand years 
of terrestrial pleasure was known as Millenarianism. 

Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, early in the second century was 
a Millenarian. His Book, “ Logion Kuriakon Exegesis,’ has 
perished, but portions of it are found in the works of Eusebius 
and other writers. Eusebius says that Papias relates some 
matters ‘‘ rather too fabulous.”... ‘‘ In them he says there would 
be a certain millennium after the resurrection, and that there 
would be a corporal reign of Christ on this very earth.”... “He 
was the cause why most of the ecclesiastical writers, urging the 
antiquity of the man, were carried away by a similar opinion, 
as for instance Irenzeus” (H. E. ili. 39). We may anticipate a 
little here by saying that Eusebius was one of the strongest 
opponents of Millenarianism. 

S. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch 109-115 A.D., wrote letters to 
S. Polycarp, the Ephesians, Smyrnians, Philadelphians, Mag- 
nesians, Trallians, and Romans, in which there are no refer- 
ences to the Revelation of S. John, although the Revelation 
contains “ Letters” addressed to three of these churches by 
name, viz., Ephesus, Smyrna, and Philadelphia. Assuming 
that he had seen the Apocalypse, he evidently did not see the 
connection between the warnings and the Churches named. 

S. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, a follower of S. John, wrote 
a letter to the Philippians in which there is no reference to the 
Apocalypse. He endorsed S. John’s teaching as regards Anti- 
Christ. “Everyone who hath not confessed that Jesus Christ 
has come in the flesh is Antichrist” (Epist. to Philippians). 

Montanus, a Mysian student of the Apocalypse, c. 136 A.D., 
proclaimed himself a prophet, and predicted that Christ was 
coming down quickly to Pepuza in Phrygia, to begin his mil- 
lennial reign. He called upon all Christians to get ready for the 
second coming by repairing to Pepuza, there to lead lives of 
self-denial, abstinence from marriage, etc. He accepted the 
Cerinthian Millennium and applied it to his own time and 
country. He obtained his ideas from a literal interpretation of 
the “‘ Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia.” In the Letter to 
the Angel of the Church of Philadelphia we read: ‘‘ Behold I 
come quickly, hold fast that which thou hast that no man take 
thy crown” (R. iii. 11). And in the Letter to the Angel of the 
Church of Laodicea, we read, ‘‘ Behold I stand at the door and 
knock. ... To him that shall overcome I will grant to sit 
with me in my throne, as I also have overcome, and have sat 
with my Father on his throne” (R. iii. 20, 21). These passages 
were taken by Montanus as foretelling an earthly kingdom to be 
established in the region of Philadelphia and Laodicea. His 


HISTORY OF THE BOOK 25 


own town of Pepuza, lying to the east of those cities, he claimed 
as the seat of the throne of the new kingdom. 

The avoidance of marriage would seem to flow as a precept 
from the vision of the followers of the Lamb, in R. xiv. 4: 
“These are they who were not defiled with women, for they are 
virgins.” 

““ Montanism” spread rapidly in the East and developed into 
a serious heresy, threatening the Church with schism. 

Orthodox leaders of the Eastern Churches were revolted by 
the sensuality of Montanist aspirations, its egotistical pre- 
tensions, its exaggerated spiritualism, its withdrawal of Christians 
from missionary work, and its arrest of the development of the 
Christian family. Moreover, on the death of Montanus, the 
movement passed into the hands of female leaders, who had 
trances, and pretended to be inspired. It fell into disreputable 
ways (Euseb. H. E. v. 18). 

Montanism ‘continued to flourish, however; and in the long 
run it led to the rejection of the Revelation of S. John by the 
Eastern churches. The Western church was not much 
affected by it. The Bishop of Rome with the majority of the 
Bishops were against it, and opposed it more and more effec- 
tively as they gained in authority, and the organisation of the 
Church crystallised into form. 

Justin Martyr, born c. 100 A.D. visited Ephesus, and wrote 
there, according to Eusebius, his “ Dialogue with Trypho the 
Jew.” In this he argued in favour of a spiritual millennium as 
opposed to Cerinthian Chiliasm. ‘“ Moreover, since even among 
us, a certain man, John by name, one of the Apostles of Christ,’ 
in the Revelation made to him, prophesied that those who 
believed in our Messias, should spend a thousand years in 
Jerusalem.” He quotes S. Luke against the nuptial views of 
Cerinthus. ‘And of the resurrection from the dead, shall 
neither be married nor take wives” (Luke xx. 35). 

Melito, Bishop of Sardis, c. 170 A.D., wrote two books on “ The 
Devil,” and “The Apocalypse of S. John,” according to Eusebius 
(H. E. iv. 26). His books have perished, but it may be inferred 
that he found Antichrist in “the Beast,” as did S. Irenzeus, a few 
years later. His views of the Millennium are not known. We 
get the date from the only surviving fragment of his writings, 
an Apologia addressed to Marcus Aurelius, c. 170 A.D. 

Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, c. 170 A.D., made use of testi- 
mony from the Revelation in his book. ‘Against the heresy of 
Hermogenis” (Euseb. H. E. iv. 24). Eusebius does not give 
any extracts from this work. 

Apollonius, Bishop of Ephesus (?) wrote against the Mon- 
tanists, c. 100 A.D. Eusebius writes of him as follows. “He 


26 THE REVELATION 


quotes also the Revelation of John as testimony, and relates 
also that a dead man was raised by the Divine power, through 
the same John, at Ephesus” (H. E. v. 18). Eusebius quotes 
Apollonius at considerable length as against Montanus, “ that 
called Pepuza and Tymium, little places in Phrygia, ‘a Jerusalem,’ 
‘ in order to collect men from every quarter thither, etc. Who 
provided salaries for those that preached his doctrine, that it 
might grow strong by gormandising and gluttony” (H. E. v. 18). 
Apollonius says many scathing things of the venal prophetesses 
of Montanism, “ receiving both gold and’ silver and precious 
garments.” His writings have disappeared with the exception 
of those quoted by Eusebius (H. E. v. 18). 

S. Ivreneus, Bishop of Lyons, c. 185 A.D., wrote a book against 
Heresies, in five volumes, in Greek. In the fourth volume he 
gives an extract from the first Chapter of Revelation, and says 
that S. John the disciple of the Lord saw these things in the 
Apocalypse (xx. 11). He repeatsthis formula several times practi- 
cally in the same words (v. 26. iv. 24. 3, Υ. 35. 2, ν. 36. 3). 
That he attributed the authorship of the Book to S. John the 
Evangelist is made clear in iii. 1. where he says “5. John 
wrote his Gospel afterwards.” 

In his fifth volume he recapitulates the heresies he has refuted, 
and goes on to make some remarks about Antichrist, whom he 
assumed to be the Beast of the Apocalypse. He noticed that 
some copies of the Book gave the number of the Beast as 616, 
instead of 666, but considered the latter number distinctive of 
genuine copies. ‘‘As matters are thus and the number is thus 
found in all the genuine and ancient copies, and as they who 
saw John attest, reason itself shows that the number of the 
name of the Beast is indicated by the Greek letters which it 
contains ” (Heres. v. 33). He proposes three names as possible 
solutions of the gematrial value of the number 666. ETAN@AX, 
AATEINOS, and TEITAN. The first he does not defend. 
The second he thinks probable as referring to the Roman 
Empire. But the third he prefers, because it consists of six 
letters ; it has two syllables of three letters each; and because 
Teitan was a giant who assaulted the Gods, and might therefore 
be put for Antichrist. 

S. Irenzeus’s testimony as to the authorship of the book, a 
matter of fact within the knowledge of his early friend 
S. Polycarp, is very strong. His testimony as to the meaning 
of the book shows very clearly that the Key to the book was lost. 

From the above quoted writings of S. Irenzus the following 
conclusions with regard to Revelation were drawn by Medieval 
writers. A. A personal Antichrist will appear on earth, whose 
name is contained in the number 666 in Greek letters. B. The 


HISTORY OF THE BOOK 27 


Revelation was given to S. John about the end of Domi- 
tian’s reign. C. (consequent upon B) There was a severe 
persecution of the Church about the end of Domitian’s 
reign. 

These conclusions rest, in the last resort, on the above quoted 
words of S. Irenzus. There is no other authority for any of 
them. They have had an obscuring influence on the elucida- 
tion of the Apocalypse. 

Clement of Alexandria was a contemporary of 5. Irenzus, and 
wrote about the same time. He frequently quotes the Apocalypse 
in his “ Stromata.’”” We have seen that he shows in his “ Who is 
the rich man who shall be saved,”’ that he is a firm believer in 
the Neronian date of the Book. (See p. 16.) 

The Alogi. In the last quarter of the second century, a sect 
of men arose in Asia Minor, who denied the manifestation of 
the Paraclete and rejected the logos teaching of the Gospel of 
S. John and of the Apocalypse. Hence they were called the 
Alogi. They were strongly opposed to the Montanists. Seeing 
that Montanism was based on the Revelation, they decried the 
Book. They denied the existence of Thyatira, one of the seven 
Churches of Asia, to which a special letter in the Apocalypse 
is addressed. And they attributed the authorship of the Book 
to Cerinthus, the heretic! (Epiphanius, Her. I. 1. 3). 

_ Caius,a Roman, whowrote against Montanism at the beginning 

of the third century (202-210) took the same polemical line, 
denying S. John’s authorship of the Apocalypse. He disputed 
with the Montanist, Proclus, in the time of Pope Zepherinus 
(See Euseb. H. E. iii. 28). His views are gathered from certain 
passages of the work of Hippolytus “‘ Contra Caium,” published 
by Dr. Gwynn. These show that Caius also attributed the 
Book to Cerinthus. 

The Epistle of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons to the 
Churches of Asia (c. 177), refers to the Apocalypse five times 
as canonical scripture (Euseb. H. E.v. 1). This reflects the 
Western or Roman view of the period. 

Tertullian, of Carthage, who wrote about the beginning of the 
third century, made liberal use of the Revelation of S. John in 
many of his controversial works. In ‘‘ Advers Marcion”’ he 
shows that Marcion rejected the Book, partly, on account of its 
Old Testament style (iv. 5). In all his works he showed that 
he accepted and upheld the Johannine authorship of the Book. 
According to S. Jerome, he referred 5. John’s exile to Nero 
(Ady. Jovin i. 26). In his later years Tertullian, alarmed by the 
laxity of the Church, fell under the influence of rigorous 
Montanism. But many of his works, *‘ De Pudicitia,”’ “ De 
Resurrect,” “ De Anima,” “‘ Prescript Heres,’ “ Advers Jude@os,” 


28 THE REVELATION 


were written before that time. He looked upon Babylon as 
Rome, and the Beast as Antichrist. 

The Muratorian Fragment. A Latin fragment published by 
Muratori in his “ Antzg. Ital.” (iii. 854), attributed to the early 
part of the third century, writes of the Apocalypse of S. John as 
being received in the Canon of the Church. 

It says that “ Paulus sequens praedecessoris sui, Johannis, 
ordinem, nonnisi nominatim septem ecclesiis scribit ordini tali”’ 
(C.F. Schmid. Offenbarung Johannis, p. 1o1, f.), showing that 
at that period 8. Paul was supposed to have followed the model 
of the Apocalypse in writing his Epistles. But as S. Paul died 
towards the close of Nero’s persecution, 67 a.D., it follows 
that in the opinion of the author of the fragment, S. John 
wrote the Apocalypse before that date. 

The Shepherd of Hermas was written about this time. The 
Muratorian fragment refers to it as having been written in 
Rome, “nuperrime temporibus nostris.” It uses a symbolism 
which appears to have been taken from the Apocalypse. The 
expression ἡ θλίψις ἡ μεγάλη, taken from Rev. vii. 14, occurs 
twice in it (Vis. il. 2, 7, iv. I. 3). 

Hippolytus, a Roman Bishop, who lived in the early part of the 
third century, wrote a work on Christ and Antichrist, in which 
he quotes extensively from the Apocalypse. Like S. Irenzeus, 
and probably Melito of Sardis, he looked upon the Apocalypse 
as relating to an anthropomorphic Antichrist tradition. He 
recognised the Beast from the Sea as the Roman Empire; the 
woman in Rey. xii. 1-3, as the Church; Babylon as Rome; 
and the two witnesses (R. xi. 3) as Enoch and Elias. He also 
expressed millenarian views. This book S. Jerome names in his 
catalogue of the works of Hippolytus (Cat. 61). Photius also 
says that he read it. It shows an advance in exegesis. 

S. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage c. 250 A.D., was a pupil of 
Tertullian. He made frequent references to the Apocalypse of 
S. John in his writings and treated it as a part of the Canon of 
Scripture. 

Origen (c. 185-254), was a pupil of Clement of Alexandria. 
His reputation as a teacher stands high. He took a mystical 
view of the Apocalypse generally, and objected to Chiliasm as 
Jewish. He studied Hebrew for the purpose of his Hexapla 
(Euseb. H. E. vi. 16). In his exposition of the Gospel of 
S. Matthew he remarks, ‘‘ What shall we say of him who 
reclined upon the breast of Jesus, I mean John? who has left 
one Gospel, in which he confesses that he could write so many 
that the whole world could not contain them. He also wrote 
the Apocalypse, commanded as he was, to conceal, and not to 
write the voices of the seven thunders’ (Euseb. H. E. vi. 25). 


HISTORY OF THE BOOK 29 


In a Commentary on S. Matthew he says, “ The King of the 
Romans, as tradition teaches, condemned John, who bore testi- 
mony on account of the word of truth, to the island of Patmos. 
John moreover teaches what concerns his testimony, not saying 
who condemned him, for he speaks thus in the Apocalypse,” 
then follows a quotation Rev. 1-9 (Edt. Wirccp. p. 300 f.). This 
was written, probably, between the years 230 and 250. The 
phrase ‘‘ The King of the Romans as tradition teaches us,” shows 
that Origen had Nero in view, or he would not have written 
“The King.” Throughout the East the Julian Czsars were 
looked upon as a royal line and hailed as Kings. The Caesars 
from Julius Cesar to Nero the sixth, King of the Apocalypse 
(R. xvii. 10), were blood relations. Nero was the last of them. 
After him came the successful generals raised to the purple by 
their legions. They took the title of Czsar, but prefixed it to 
their own names. They reigned by virtue of their leadership of 
the Army. The official title of Domitian illustrates both these 
points—‘ Imperator Cesar Domitianus Augustus.” Origen was 
a pupil of Clement of Alexandria, who taught that S. John was 
exiled in Nero’s reign. He would naturally accept the Neronian 
tradition so clearly set forth in Clement’s tradition of ‘ Who is 
the rich man who shall be saved ἢ Origen’s further expression 
that S. John does not say “ who condemned him,” may have refer- 
ence to his condemnation and exile from Ephesus. He was tried 
and condemned at Ephesus by the Provincial Governor, or 
Asiarch. There is no mention of him in the Revelation. 

Origen read books with avidity and dwelt for many years in 
Palestine. If there had been a Domitian tradition of S. John’s 
exile, he would have heard of it. He would have observed that 
it was at variance with the teaching of the school of Alexandria, 
of which he was so great an ornament. And in all probability 
= would have taken some notice of it when penning the above 
ines. 

Victorinus, Bishop of Pettau in Upper Pannonia, about the 
middle of the 2nd century, wrote a Commentary on the 
Apocalypse in Latin. It has been preserved to our day in an 
expurgated recension, said to have been made by S. Jerome 
(Biblioth. Max Palt. vol. iii.). It still retains traces of 
Chiliasm. 

Nepos, a learned and pious Bishop of the Egyptian Church, 
wrote, in the first half of the third century, a book called the 
“ Refutation of the Allegorisers.”” This was written in defence 
of the literal chiliastic interpretation of the Apocalypse, as 
against the mysticism of the Alexandrian school. He quoted 
the Apocalypse extensively in support of his views, which were 
gaining many adherents in Egypt (Euseb. H. E. vii. 24). 


30 THE REVELATION 


Dionysius of Alexandria, an ardent Antimontanist, whose 
influence on the Book rivals that of S. Irenzus, was at 
Alexandria about this time. He wrote in the middle of the 
third century. ᾿ 5. Athanasius calls him, “Teacher of the 
Church.” Basil says that “πὲ was a man of canonical 
authority.” He was known subsequently as “ St. Denis the 
Great.”” He wrote two books called “ The Promises,” against 
the teaching of Nepos. 

In the second book he enters into a discussion on the Revela- 
tion of John, where, in the introduction he makes mention of 
Nepos as follows: 


“But they produce a certain work of Nepos upon which they lay 
great stress, as if he advanced things that are irrefragable, when he 
asserts that there will be an earthly reign of Christ. ... When I 
was at Arsinoe, where, as you know, long since, this doctrine was 
afloat, so that schisms and apostacies of whole churches followed, 
after I had called the presbyters and teachers of the brethren in the 
villages, when those brethren had come who wished to be present, I 
exhorted them to examine the doctrine publicly. When they had 
produced this book as a kind of armour and impregnable fortress, I 
sat with them for three days, from morning till evening, attempting 
to refute what it contained” (Euseb. H. E, vii. 24). 


Dionysius shows what injury Montanism was doing to the 
Church. He shows how it depended upon the misinterpreta- 
tion of the Revelation of S. John, which was the real fortress on 
which Nepos rested his book. And he shows his own zeal and 
energy in opposing it. Presently we shall see that his line of 
argument was to undermine the authority of the Book by 
saying that it was not written by John the son of Zebedee, and 
that, therefore, it was not canonical. Consequently Chiliasm 
was based upon a work of no great authority, and could not 
stand against the other Scriptures. 

The influence of Dionysius was so great that Montanism was 
declared heretical at the Synod of Iconium, in the year 253. 
His writings throw a very strong light upon the position of the 
Apocalypse in the minds of Churchmen, in, and before this 
time, especially in the East. 

He says in the second book on “" Promises ”’: 


“ But it is highly probable that Cerinthus, the same that estab- 
lished the heresy that bears his name, designedly affixed the name 
(of John) to his own forgery. For one of the doctrines that he 
taught was that Christ would have an earthly kingdom. And as he 
was a voluptuary, and altogether sensual, he conjectured that it 
would consist in those things that he craved in the gratification of 
appetite and lust, z¢, in eating and drinking and marrying, or in 
such things whereby he supposed these sensual pleasures might be 


HISTORY OF THE BOOK Hee 


presented in more decent expressions ; viz., in festivals, sacrifices, 
and the slaying of victims” (Euseb. H. E. iii, 28 and vil. 25). 


He continues: 


“For my part, I would not venture to set this book aside, as there 
are many brethren that value it much; but, having formed a 
conception of its subject as exceeding my capacity, I also consider it 
to contain a certain concealed and wonderful intimation in each 
particular. For, though I do not understand, yet I suspect that 
some deeper sense is wrapped up in the words, and these I do not 
measure and judge by my private reason; but allowing more to 
faith, 1 have regarded them as too lofty to be comprehended by me, 
and those things which I do not understand, I do not reject, but I 
wonder the more that I cannot comprehend. ... For ‘blessed,’ says 
he, ‘is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book, and I, 
John, who have seen and heard these things.’ I do not, therefore, 
deny that he was called John, and that this was the writing of one 

ohn. And I agree that it was the work also of some holy and 
inspired man. But I would not easily agree that it was the apostle, 
the son of Zebedee, the brother of James, who is the author of the 
Gospel, and the General (Catholic) Epistle that bears his name” 
(H. E. vii. 25). 


A little further he adds: 


* But John never speaks as of himself (in the first person), nor as 
of another (in the third), but he that wrote the Apocalypse declares 
himself immediately in the beginning. ... But neither in the 
second nor third Epistle ascribed to John (the Apostle), though they 
are only brief, is the name of John presented. But anonymously it 
is written, the presbyter. But the other did not consider it sufficient 
to name himself but once.” 

«That it is a John that wrote these things we must believe, since 
he says it, but what John it is, is uncertain. For he has not said 
that he was, as he often does in the Gospel, the beloved disciple of 
the Lord. ... Iam of opinion that there were many of the same 
name with John the Apostle. ... I think, therefore, that it was 
another one of those in Asia. For they say that there are two 
monuments at Ephesus, and that each bears the name of John... .” 
(Euseb. H. E. vii. 25). 


In these passages Dionysius reveals the prejudice that is in 
his mind in dealing with the authorship of the Apocalypse. 
He does not deny its value. But he will not allow that it is 
written by S. John the Evangelist, because he will not have 
that great name used as a shield by Montanists or Millenarians. 

Dionysius admits that the Book was not understood in his 
time, or by any writer before it. The Key was lost. The O.T. 
Hebrew references were not recognised as a cypher. On the 
contrary, the Book was disparaged on account of its peculiarly 


32 THE REVELATION 


O.T. style. The extent of the confusion may be measured by 
the fact that so great a man as Dionysius attributed the work . 
to the Ebionite heretic, Cerinthus! The Revelation, as we 
shall see, insists repeatedly on the Divinity of Jesus Christ, and 
his equality with God, the Father Almighty. 

Basing himself on Papias, who was supposed to have referred 
to two Johns, as co-existing at Ephesus, in Apostolic times, 
Dionysius argues that the Revelation was written by the second 
John, not the Evangelist. He strengthens his case by the 
mention of two tombs at Ephesus, each dedicated in the name 
of John. 

It will appear, presently, that Papias did not say that there 
were two separate Johns, though he would have said so plainly 
if that was what he meant to say. For he laid himself out to 
be the collector of the Apostolic traditions of his time. 

Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History, throws some light 
upon this question of the two Johns. 

Eusebius begins by saying, ‘‘ Ghere are said to be five books 
of Papias.”” He does not seem to have had any of “‘ the books” 
of Papias before him, since he does not specify any one of them. 
He relies, apparently, on S. Irenzus for his information about 
the works of Papias. 

He quotes from Papias as follows : 


“But I will not hesitate to record for thee, together with the 
interpretations, all the things which I once learned well from the 
Presbyters, and kept well in my memory, that so I may confirm 
their truth. For I took pleasure, not in those who are great talkers, 
as the multitude do, but in those who teach the truth; not in those 
who relate alien commandments, but in those who record such 
commandments as were given by the Lord to the faithful, and spring 
from the Truth itself. If, therefore, anyone came who had been a 
follower of the Presbyters, I would ask him about the words of the 
Presbyters; what Andrew, or what Peter said, or what Philip, or 
what Thomas or James, or what John or Matthew, or any other of 
the disciples of the Lord. And as to the things which Ariston and 
‘John the Presbyter,’ the disciples of the Lord, say, for I did not 
think that the things which are contained in the books were as much 
use to me as what came from a living voice still remaining among 
us” (Euseb. H. E. iii. 39). 


Eusebius comments on this as follows: 


‘‘ Where it is also proper to observe that the name of John is 
twice mentioned. The former of which he mentions with Peter and 
James and Matthew, and the other apostles, evidently meaning the 
evangelists. But in a separate point of his discourse he ranks the 
other John with the rest not included in the number of apostles, and 
placing Ariston before him, he distinguishes him plainly by the 


HISTORY OF THE.BOOK 33 


name of presbyter, so that it is here proved that the statement of 
those is true who assert there were two of the same name in Asia, 
that there are also two tombs at Ephesus, and that both are called 
ppba even to this day, which it is particularly necessary to observe. 

or it is probable that the second, if it be not allowed that it was 
the first, saw the revelation ascribed to St. John. And the same 
Papias, of whom we now speak, professes to have received the 
declarations of the apostles from those that were in company with 
them, and says also that he was a hearer of Ariston and the 
presbyter, John. For as he has often mentioned them by name, he 
also gives their statements in his own works” (Eusebius, H. E. iii. 39). 


In addition to this comment Eusebius devotes a whole 
chapter of his History (vii. 25) to the ‘‘ Apocalypse of John,” in 
which he quotes Dionysius exterisively against S. John’s claim 
to the Revelation. In this chapter Eusebius repeats the remark 
about the two Johannine tombs at Ephesus, quoted above. 
‘“‘ For they say there are two monuments at Ephesus, and that 
each bears the name of John.’ Eusebius, Bishop of Czsarea, 
historian and traveller, many years after Dionysius, reintroduces 
the story of the two tombs, still as an on dit, and then claims 
that it is capable of being proved to be true, because Papias 
mentions a John by the name of “ John the Presbyter”’ ; 
*‘ placing Ariston before him he distinguishes him plainly by 
the name of Presbyter, so that it is here proved that the state- 
ment of those is true, who assert that there were two of the 
same name in Asia!” 

It will be observed that neither Dionysius nor Eusebius 
furnishes any details in connection with their mention of the 
story of the two tombs at Ephesus; they do not enter into any 
historical discussion as to the origin or credibility of the legend, 
nor do they appear at all solicitous concerning its accuracy. 

We have seen that Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, at the end 
of the second century, wrote that: ‘“ John, who rested upon the 
bosom of our Lord, is buried at Ephesus” (Euseb. v.24). There 
does not seem to have been any question of two tombs or two 
Johns at Ephesus then, or Polycrates, writing of S. John’s 
burial-place, would have been obliged to particularise. He 
wrote a letter ‘to Victor and the Church of Rome” about the 
proper time of the observance of Easter (Euseb. v. 24). Pope 
S. Victor succeeded S. Eleutherius in the Pontificate in the 
year 192 and died A.p. 202. Hence Polycrates stands as a 
witness half a century earlier than Dionysius. 

Considering the unique position of S. John as the beloved 
Apostle of our Lord, one would expect his tomb to be well known 
and held in great reverence. We have seen that S. Augustine, 
S. Ephrzem and 5. Gregory, hand down a tradition that it was a 

3 


34 THE REVELATION 


well-known shrine visited by pilgrims from “ far countries” (p. 21). 
S. John was highly venerated by the Greeks, who call him 
the Divine Theologian. Justinian built a Basilica over his tomb. 
It is very remarkable that neither the Alogi, nor Caius, earlier 
writers than Dionysius, knew anything of the second John. 
They were obliged to attribute the Book to Cerinthus for want 
of any other putative author. So illusory is this other John, 
even in the mind of Dionysius, that he says that “it is highly 
probable that Cerinthus forged the name of John to his own 
work.” 

But Papias goes on to make it quite clear that he meant 
S. John the Evangelist all through. It has been shown by 
Professor Drummond that Papias refers, in the first part of the 
above fragment, to the living voice of the Apostles, including 
the presbyter John, as handed down to him by their followers ; 
and, in the second part, to the writings of Ariston and “ John 
the Presbyter.” 

It may be remarked, in passing, that Papias did not put the 
Apostles in the order of their rank, since he puts Andrew before 
Peter. 

Papias knew that S. John, in his Epistles, described himself 
as the Presbyter. Eusebius notices, in this same chapter, that 
“‘Papias made use of testimonies from the first Epistle of John.” 
So that Papias had the writings of S. John before him, as well 
as the recollection or tradition of his living voice, and was com- 
paring them together. 

S. John’s two minor Epistles begin: ‘‘ The Presbyter to the 
elect lady and her children,” “‘The Presbyter to the dearly 
beloved Gaius.” The Presbyter was evidently the title by which 
he was commonly known. “John the Presbyter,” or ‘the 
Presbyter John,” would point to him, and to him only. 

But there is another fragment from Papias in this same 
thirteenth chapter of Eusebius. It reads as if it were a part 
broken off from the first. It is this: 


“And ‘John the Presbyter’ also said this: ‘Mark being the 
interpreter of Peter, whatsoever he recorded he wrote with great 
accuracy, but not, however, in the order in which it was spoken or 
done by our Lord, for he neither heard nor followed our Lord, but, 
as before said, he was in company with Peter, who gave him such 
instructions as was necessary, but not to give a history of our Lord’s 
discourses; wherefore Mark has not erred in anything by writing 
some things as he has recorded them; for he was carefully attentive 
to one thing, not to pass by anything that he heard, or to state 
anything falsely in these accounts!” (Eusebius, H. E. iii. 39). 


Here we have “John the Presbyter,” according to Papias, 
passing judgment in the most authoritative way possible on the 


HISTORY OF THE BOOK 35 


Gospel of S. Mark. John the Presbytér does not say that he 
has heard this, or that he believed it. He says of his own 
knowledge, decisively, that ‘“‘ whatsoever he [S. Mark] recorded 
he wrote with great accuracy, but not, however, in the order in 
which it was spoken or done by our Lord,” Papias evidently 
accepted this statement of “John the Presbyter” as coming 
from one whose evidence on the point was final. Only an eye- 
witness and constant follower of our Lord was qualified to 
make such a comment on the Gospel of S. Mark. There was 
no John but S. John the Evangelist, the constant companion of 
our Lord, who was in a position to make it. 

The whole statement of “John the Presbyter,” as recorded 
by Papias, reveals the mind of one who was intimately associated 
with our Lord. Who else could say that S. Mark’s records are 
not all related in the order in which it was spoken and done by 
our Lord, nevertheless he has not erred in anything, or stated 
anything falsely ? : 

From all of which it may be fairly argued that Papias had 
but one John in his mind, and that one S. John the Evangelist. 
’ Dionysius notes that John of the Apocalypse mentions his 
name more than once, whereas the Evangelist in his Epistles 
simply calls himself “the Presbyter.” We have seen that 
“John the Presbyter” was the commonly acknowledged title 
of S. John the Evangelist (pp. 19, 31 f.). 

The Apocalypse was an extraordinary production, requiring 
ample confirmation as to the authenticity of its character as a 
direct revelation from God to S. John. Accordingly we find 
that S. John mentions His name no less than five times, three 
times in the beginning of the book, and twice towards the end 
(Rev. i. 1; i. 4; 1.90; xxi. 2; xxii. 8). He sent it to Ephesus, 
where his disciples dwelt, in these terms, “I, John, your brother 
and sharer in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience in 
Christ Jesus” (Rev. i. 4). Such a message coming from Patmos, 
where S. John lived in exile, could only be attributed to one 
author, and that was S. John the Evangelist. 

Another argument brought forward by Dionysius in favour 
of attributing ‘the Revelation” to an unknown John, is the 
difference of the Greek in the Gospel and in the Revelation. 
The latter is written in a Greek more akin to Hebrew than the 
former. It is distinctly Hebraic in some of its idioms and 
grammatical constructions. 

If we take it as written during Nero’s persecution, in the 
year 67, soon after S. John came to reside at Ephesus, we 
should expect the writing to be flavoured with Hebraicisms. 
If we admit that the Book was written at Patmos, where 
S. John was a prisoner, that it was written under the eyes of his 


36 ‘THE REVELATION 


jailers, we should expeetit to be veiled in Hebraic symbolism. — 
If we admit the tradition that the Gospel was a later work, 
written at ease, at Ephesus, we should expect to find it written 
in more polished Greek (as, in fact, it is), yet on these natural 
differences of style rests the theory that S. John the Evan- 
gelist could not have written both books, the Gospel and the 
Revelation. 
Dionysius, as quoted by Eusebius, says: 


“For the Gospel and Epistle mutually agree. . . . And, 
altogether, throughout, to attentive observers, it will be obvious 
that there is one and the same complexion and character in the 
Gospel and Epistle. Very different and remote from all this is the 
Apocalypse, not even tending, or even bordering upon them in the 
least, 1 might say not even containing a syllable in common with 
them.” 

“ We may also notice how the phraseology of the Gospel and the 
Epistle differs from the Apocalypse. For the former are written 
not only irreprehensibly, as regards the Greek language, but are 
most elegant in diction, in the arguments and the whole structure of 
the style. It would require much to discern any barbarism or 
solecism, or any odd peculiarity of expression at all in them; for, as 
is to be presumed, he was endued with all the requisites for his 
discourse, the Lord having granted him both that of knowledge and 
that of expression of style. That the latter, however, saw a revela- 
tion, and received knowledge as prophecy, I do not deny; but I 
perceive that his dialect and language is not very accurate Greek, 
but that he uses barbarous idioms, and in some places solecisms, 
which it is now unnecessary to select” (Euseb. H. E. vii. 25). 


Dionysius says that in complexion the Epistle and Gospel of 
S. John resemble each other, but the Apocalypse is very different 
and remote from them. “1 might say not even containing a 
syllable in common with them.” 

We shall see that this is not a fair estimate. In the Revela- 
tion, when our Lord appears leading His forces to the final 
battle which is to rout the armies of paganism, it is said, “ And 
he was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood, and his 
name is called the Word of God” (Rev. xix. 13). 

It is universally recognised that we have here a very important 
literary idiom, connecting the Apocalypse with the Gospel and 
Epistle of 5. John (x Jhn. 11. 14; 1 Jhn. v. 7). The Gospel 
begins, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was 
God.” 

Again, the Lamb of God is a peculiarly Johannine form of 
expression, found only in the Revelation and in the Gospel of 
5. John as an emblem of our Lord. 

In the most dramatic scene of the Revelation, the opening of 


HISTORY OF THE BOOK 37 


the book with the seven seals, Christ appears as a Lamb, and 
takes the book and opens the seals. Thereafter the Lamb 
appears at frequent intervals as a figure of Christ (R.v. 8, 12, 13; 
Vi. I, 16; vil. 9, 14, 17; xii. 11; xiii. 8; xiv. I, 4, IO} xv. 3; 
XVil. 14; XIX. 9; XXl. 9, 14, 22, 23, 27; Xxil. I, 3, I4). 

In 5. John’s Gospel we have the same symbolism. ‘‘ Behold 
the Lamb of God” (Jhn. i. 29, 36). These expressions, the 
“Word of God,’”. and the ‘‘ Lamb of God,” are peculiar to 
S. John. They are found only in his writings, and their 
occurrence in the Revelation and in his Gospel seems to many 
modern critics to place him in an unassailable position as the 
writer of both books. Again, S. John’s is the only received 
Gospel which mentions the piercing of our Lord’s side, “ But 
one of his soldiers with a spear opened his side, and immediately 
there came out blood and water. And he that saw it hath given 
testimony, and his testimony istrue. And he knoweth that he 
saith true that you may believe. For these things were done 
that the scriptures might be fulfilled. . . . They shall look on 
him whom they pierced” (Jhn. xix. 34, 36). S. John himself, 
as he says, witnessed the piercing of our Lord’s side with the 
spear, and, remembering the prophecy in the Hebrew Scriptures 
(Zach. xii. 10), solemnly testifies to its fulfilment. The same 
event is noted in the Apocalypse as a niark of identification of 
our Lord, ‘‘ Every eye shall see him, and they also that pierced 
him ” (Rev. i. 7). 

Professor Moses Stuart makes the following comment on> 
vetse eleven in the first chapter of the Revelation. The verse 
begins, “‘ Saying, what thou seest write in a book.” He says, 
with regard to εἰς βιβλίον, R. I. 11: 


*« We say copied into a book but written iz a book, and in accord- 
ance with the latter phrase is the usual idiom of the Greek; but in 
Jhn. viii. 6, 8 (if the genuineness be allowed), we have two cases of 
ἔγραφεν <is—showing, at least, a resemblance in minutize between the 
Gospel and the Apocalypse, for the idiom is found nowhere else in 
the New Testament” (Com. on the Apoc. Vol. 11., p. 41). 


Again he says: ‘‘ The syntax of the verb and participle, it has 
often been alleged, is frequently violated in the Apocalypse. 
(a) The Present tense is put for the Praeterite. .. . The historic 
Present (as grammarians call it) belongs, of course, to all animated 
narration ; and it is to be found unusually often, both in the 
Gospel of John and in the Apocalypse. In reading through both 
these books, I have noted one hundred cases in which it is 
employed in the Gospel, and forty cases in the Apocalypse. Of 
the one hundred, however, some sixty-five belong merely to the 
word λέγει, singular or plural ; and a large portion of the others to 


38 THE REVELATION 


ἔρχεται and some other common verbs of motion. The numerous 
cases of λέγει belong almost entirely to the frequent dialogues 
which the Gospel exhibits. In the Apocalypse, but few dialogistic 
passages occur ; and in these there is just the same frequency of 
λέγει as in the Gosp el. As to other cases, I have noted thirty- 
five in the Gospel, νὰ thirty in the Apocalypse, which exhibit a 
similarity of usage in both, that deserves special notice, inasmuch 
as they are some indication of the same hand in both. For the 
.rest, I would merely remark, that although the /istoric Present is 
everywhere to be found in the New Testament, yet nowhere is 
it employed with so much frequency as in the writings of 
_John. Asthe Hebrew has no appropriate form for the Present, 
this must be put to the account of the Greek, and not of the 
Hebrew idiom.” (Op. cit., i. 388.) 

Dionysius says, we do not find i in the Apocalypse the Johan- 
nine words fon, φῶσ, ἁληθέια, χάρις and κρισις ; all of which 
ave found in the Apocalypse, ὡληθέια being replaced by its 
adjective ἀληθένός. (See “ Historical introduction to Study of 
N.T,” G. Salmon, D.D.) 

Dr. Swete, Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, points 
out several resemblances between the Gospel of S. John and the 


Apocalypse. 
The book begins, ‘The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which 
God gave to him, to make known to his servants.” “ That the 


Son receives what he is and has from the Father is the constant 
teaching of the Gospel of S. John (iii. 35; v. 20, 26; vii. 16; 
vill. 28; xii. 49; xvi. I5; xvii. 2). Bede says, Johannes more 
suo fill ‘gloriam ad patrem referens.” ... “Μάρτυς, μαρτυρεῖν, 
μαρτυρία are frequent in the Apocalypse as in other Johannine 
books,” . . . “νικᾶν is a characteristically Johannine word 
(Jhn. xvi. 33; 1 Jhn. ii. 13; iv. 4; v. 4), and specially frequent 
in the Apocalypse (ii. 7, 11, 17, 26; iii. 5, 12, 21; v. 53 ΧΙ]. II; 
ν᾽: RVUs TAS) OK, Yes a's Τηρεῖν (a Johannine word, Ey. 18, 
Ep. i. 7, Apoc. 11)” (See The Apocalypse of S. John, pp. I, 2, 29, 46). 

Dionysius concludes that “he [St. oe bag uses barbarous 
idioms, and in some places solecisms, which it is now unneces- 
sary to select.” 

It is admitted by all that the Greek of the Apocalypse is not 
so scholarly as that of the Gospel. From the pedagogic point 
of view it is an inferior Greek composition. This tells very 
much in favour of its having been written in the year 67 A.D. 

A very complete command of Greek was required to deal 
with the visions of Revelation. Accordingly we find the strange 
visions of the book described in language full of fire and 
emotion, which breaks through the trammels of unaccustomed 
Greek and falls back upon Hebraic linguistic constructions. 


HISTORY OF THE BOOK 39 


Dr. Swete writes: 


** Whatever may be thought of the explanations which are offered 
in his defence, it is evident that he has not erred.in all cases through 
ignorance, and it is possible that he has not done so in any instance. 
His eccentricities of syntax are probably due to more than one 
cause, some to the habit which he may have retained from early 
years of thinking in a Semitic language, some to the desire of giving 
movement and vivid reality to his visions, which leads him to report 
them after the manner of shorthand notes, jotted down at the time; 
some to the circumstances in which the book was written. But 
from whatever cause or concurrence of causes, it cannot be denied 
that the Apocalypse of John stands alone among ‘Greek literary 
writings in its disregard of the ordinary rules of syntax, and the 
success with which syntax is set aside without loss of perspicuity, or 
even of literary power. The book seems openly and deliberately to 
defy the grammarian, and yet, even as literature, it is in its own 
field unsurpassed. No judge who compared it with any other Greek 
apocalyptic work would hesitate to give the palm to the Canonical 
Apocalypse.” (Op. cit., p. cxxiii.) 


The Hebraic mind of S. John is seen in both his Scriptures, 
by his habit of introducing Hebrew names with their Greek 
equivalents. Thus in his Gospel, ‘“ Who said Rabbi, which is 
to say, being interpreted master” (Jhn. i. 38). “ Thou shalt be 
called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter” (Jhn. i. 42). 
Pilate . . . sat down in the judgment seat in the place that is 
called Lithostratos, and in Hebrew Gabbatha. ‘He went 
forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew, 
Golgotha ” (Jhn. xix. 13, 17). ‘And in the Apocalypse, “ And 
all the tribes of the earth shall bewail themselves because of 
him, even so=(val). Amen” (R. i. 7). In which, vat, Greek, is 
interpreted by its Hebrew equivalent, Amen. ‘“ The angel of 
the bottomless pit whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in 
Greek, Apollyon”’ (R. ix. 11). “And the great dragon was cast 
out, the old serpent who is called the Devil and Satan” 
(R. xii. 9), where Σατανᾶς is Hebrew, and Διάβολος, Greek. 
“And he shall gather them together into a place which is 
called in Hebrew, Armagedon” (R. xvi. 16). Armagedon, a 
Hebrew proper name, had no Greek equivalent. Finally the 
number of the Beast ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ (χξς), though written 
in Greek, has to be converted into Hebrew for the purpose of 
its gematrial interpretation. 

All this leaves out of account the fact that the book was 
purposely obscured by the use of Old Testament symbolism to 
form a Hebraic cipher. Though written in Greek, it was not 
intended to be read or understood by the Greek-speaking 
Asiarchs of Asia Minor. 


40 THE REVELATION 


L. Cecilius Firmianus Lactantius, a rhetorician and Christian 
Apologist of Nicomedia, who died about A.D. 330, wrote a book 
entitled, Divinarum Institutionum, in which he shows Chiliastic 
tendencies (L. xvi. 7). He accepted the Revelation as written 
by S. John. In his Epit. c. 42, he refers to Rev. xix. 12, ‘‘a 
name written which no man knoweth but himself,” “ sicut docet 
Joannes in Revelatione.” 

Methodius, Bishop of Olympus, in Lydia, about the same 
time, took a mystical view of the Apocalypse. The seven heads 
of the dragon he took to be the seven deadly sins; and the 
Beast, the empire of lust. In this exegesis he had many 
followers. He belonged to the school of Allegorists. 

Eusebius, Bishop of Czeesarea, in Palestine, already noticed, 
wrote an Ecclesiastical History, which he finished about the 
year 324. It is a wonderful store-house of all kinds of facts 
concerning the early history of Christianity. As the quotations 
from his history, printed above, show, he was in sympathy with 
Dionysius of Alexandria, in his antimontanist polemic. 

He was a prominent figure in the Christian revival under 
Constantine whose friendship he enjoyed. He sat beside the 
Emperor at the Council of Nicea, and was honoured by him 
for many years, both in private life and in public ceremonies. 
His influence, therefore, was much greater than that of an 
ordinary Bishop, and that influence was exerted against the 
Canonicity of the Apocalypse. He tells us in his “ Life of 
Constantine” (iv. 36, 37), that by order of that Emperor he 
prepared fifty sumptuous copies of the Bible for the Church of 
Constantinople. From these he excluded the Apocalypse. 
Thus it came to pass that when Byzantium, renamed Con- 
stantinople, became the Metropolitan Church of the East, it 
was endowed from the beginning with an Antimontanist Bible, 
and with a large number of sumptuous spare copies for 
presentation to the Eastern Churches under its influence. 
The Bible of Eusebius completed the work of Montanism and 
its opponents in discrediting the authority of the Apocalypse in 
the East. 

At the celebrated Council or Synod of Laodicea held in the 
year 360, many of whose Canons are still reverenced, the 
Eastern Bishops dropped the Apocalypse out of the Canon of 
Scripture. It is not found in the Peshitta or original of the 
Syrian New Testament. Gwynn believes that it was unknown 
to the Syrian Christians for four hundred years, with the 
exception of those who could translate Greek. Nor does it 
appear in Canon 85 of Apost. Const. (Zahn. ii. 177 ff.,197, 190 ff.). 

Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386), excluded the Apocalypse from 
public and private use (Catach. iv. 31, 36). 


HISTORY OF THE BOOK 41 


Gregory of Nazianzum, 330-389 A.D., left it out of his Canon. 

Theodore of Mopsoestia omits to quote it. 

Theodoret fails to quote it. 

Chrysostom omitted it from his Synopsis Scripture Sacre. 

Nicephorus omitted it from his Chronography, and List of 
Books. 

The Apocalypse was not generally reinstated in the Eastern 
Church till the 6th century. The Armenians continued to 
exclude it till the 12th, and the Jacobites till the 13th 
century. A curious instance of this Eastern prejudice was 
noticed as far West as Spain. At the Synod of Toledo 
A.D. 633, the Apocalypse was ordered to be read in Church 
under pain of excommunication. The Visigoths, who settled 
down in ‘Spain, had brought an Eastern Bible, and Greek tradi- 
tions, with them. Some of the leading Bishops of the East, 
however, even in the fourth century, gave the Apocalypse a 
canonical position. 

Athanasius, the great Bishop of Alexandria (c. 326), placed it 
definitely in his list of canonical Scriptures. 

Ephraem of Edessa, who died in the year 378, quoted it as 
canonical. 

Epiphanius, Bishop of Constantia, in Cyprus (c. 367), insists on 
its Canonicity. In his “ Panarion” 25 and 51, against the Alogi 
and Nicolaites, he places the Apocalypse and Gospel of S. John 
on the same level. He states that the Alogi rejected the Apoca- 
lypse, partly because there was no Church at Thyatira. He 
says (Her. I. 33): “εἶπε πάλιν Γράψον τῶ ἀγγέχῳ τῆς ἐκκλησίας 
τῷ ἐν Θυατείροις, καὶ οὐκ ἔνι ἐκεῖ ἐκκλησία Χριστιανῶν εν 
Θυατείρῃ: πῶς οὖν ἔγραφε τῇ μὴ οὔση.᾽ (See ‘Gospels as 
Historical Documents,” Stanton, p. 209.) 

He twice refers the date of the Apocalypse to Claudius. This 
singular departure from earlier writers, has caused general sur- 
prise, because Claudius Czsar’s date A.D. 52 isan impossible one. 
Dr. Hort points out, however, that Nero is often called in old 
inscriptions, Nero Claudius, or Claudius Nero Cesar,° or 
Claudius Nero. 

It is very likely that Epiphanius, who was a great translator 
of books, found this rendering in old works of Hippolytus and 
other writers, and reproduced it. 

Suetonius in his work on the “ Twelve Czsars ”’ gives the title 
heading of Nero’s reign as “ Nero Claudius Cesar.” That was 
his official title. He was a member of the Claudian family. 
His uncle Claudius Cesar, adopted him and gave him the 
name of Claudius. 

Basil, The Great, Bishop of Czsarea, who died in 379, 
quoted the Apocalypse as the work of S. John the Evangelist, 


42 THE REVELATION 


Tyconius, the Donatist of Africa c. 390, took the Book as - 
symbolising the struggle between good and evil, and applied it 
to his own times. He explained it generally, in a spiritual 
sense. He was a preterist and had many followers. 

Hilary of Poitiers, who died in 368, accepted the Apocalypse 
as canonical. 

Ambrose of Milan, who died in 397, in his De Virginibus (iii), 
and De Poenitentia (c. 2) quoted the Book as Holy Scripture. 

Ruffinus, a contemporary writer, does the same. 

The Codex Clarmontanus does the same. 

The Synod of Hippo, A.D. 393, in canon xxxvi, explicitly favours 
the divine authority of the Apocalypse (Mansi. Nov. Coll. 
Council iii. p. 924). 

The Third Council of Carthage, A.D. 397, treats the Book as 
Canonical. 

The Fifth Council of Carthage, A.D. 419, does the same. 

Pope Innocent, in the year 405, sent a list of the Canonical 
scriptures to Exuporius, Bishop of Toulouse, in which he in- 
cluded the Apocalypse. 

Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (d. 430), quoted the Apocalypse 
freely as Canonical Scripture. In his great work De Civitate 
Dei (A.D. 413-426), he explained its millenarian passages as 
referring to the peaceful expansion of the Church for a period 
of a thousand years. This, the Tyconian, and the true explana- 
tion, was well received. The genius of S. Augustine dazzled 
and impressed the age in which he lived. After him, millen- 
arianism dwindled and disappeared. 

S. Jerome, the greatest of the Latin Doctors of the Church, 
was a contemporary of S. Augustine. He undertook the 
revision of the Holy Scriptures at the request of Pope 
Damasus, and completed it by A.D. 385. He prepared him- 
self for the task by the study of Hebrew, and executed it with 
the help of Hebrew scholars. He is practically the author of 
the Vulgate or Latin Bible. It is not certain, however, that he 
revised the Apocalypse. 

He accepted the Apocalypse as the work of S. John the 
Evangelist, and placed it in the Canon of the New Testament. 
In Ep. iii. 4, he. writes of it as Sacred Scripture, and in 
Ep. xxxi. 3, ‘‘The Saviour Himself is the Apocalypse of 
S. John says...” In his letter to Paulinus, A.D. 394, he says 
“Τῆς Apocalypse of John has as many mysteries as words.” 
In his Epistle “‘ Ad Dardanum,” he shows that he knew of the 
campaign against the Apocalypse in the Greek Church, but 
that he preferred the testimony of the older writers. He says 
“Quod si eam (viz. the Epistle to the Hebrews) Latinorum 
consuetudo non recipit inter Scripturas canonicas, nec Grecorum. 


HISTORY OF THE BOOK 43 


quidem ecclesiae Apocalypsin eadem libertate suscipiunt; et 
tamen nos utrumque suscipimus, nequaquam hujus temporis 
consuetudinem, sed veterum scriptorum auctoritatem sequentes.” 
By the combined action of S. Augustine and S. Jerome the 
Apocalypse was securely fixed in the Canon, as is abundantly 
proved by later testimonies. 

The Decree of Gelasius, A.D. 494, placed the Apocalypse in the 
Canon. 

Bede, Beatus, Cassiodorus, and Primasius, followed Origen and 
Tyconius, in mystical exposition. The Latin commentary of 
Primasius still exists. 

Oecumenius, a Greek, Bishop of Tricca, in Thessaly, wrote a 
commentary, c. A.D. 600, which is still extant. He took Rome 
to be the sixth King, and Constantinople the seventh. 

The Council of Constantinople, A.D. 692, admitted the Apoca- 
lypse to the Canon of Scripture. 

Andreas, Bishop of Cesarea, in Cappadocia (7th century) 
divided the Book into twenty-four parts, corresponding with 
the twenty-four Ancients in Rev. iv. 4. Each part he made 
into three chapters, in accordance with the threefold nature of 
man. These seventy-two parts have formed the basis of all 
Subsequent divisions. Andreas believed in the spiritual 
character of the Book and allegorised to a great extent. But 
he explained parts of the Revelation, as a preterist, with 
reference to his own times. He was a convinced believer in the 
Antichrist exegesis. His work has left its mark on subsequent 
commentaries. He noticed that the early chapters of the Book 
had been interpreted by ancient writers, as referring to the 
destruction of Jerusalem under Titus, thus showing forth the © 
Neronian tradition. 

Berengaud, in the gth century, adopted the Irenzan view 
that the Beast was Antichrist, and the Hippolytan view that 
the two witnesses were Enoch and Elias. But he identified 
“the ten horns” with the Barbarian Kings, who destroyed 
the Roman Empire. In this we begin to see the guidance of 
history. 

Arethas, Bishop of Czsarea, early in the tenth century com- 
piled a scholia on the Apocalypse, in which he made great use 
of his predecessor, Andreas. His work is still extant, but-the 
MSS. vary considerably. In his exegesis of Rev. vii. 4, he says, 
“When the Evangelist received the oracles the destruction in 
which the Jews were involved, was not yet inflicted by the 
Romans,” showing that, following Andreas, he believed in the 
Neronian date. 

Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, when he was a 
Doctor of the University of Paris in the year 1225, divided the 


44 THE REVELATION 


Apocalypse into our present chapters, many of which followthe ~ 
copious headings of Andreas. 

Joachim of Flora, of the Friars Minor, wrote a commentary 
on the Apocalypse in the 13th century, in which he identified 
the wounded Beast with the Moslem Power, and in view of 
disorders in the Church in his own time, he identified Babylon 
with Papal Rome. John of Parma, General of the Order, 
| 1247-57, a strong supporter of the rigorous party, shared these 
views. The Liber Introductorius, a collection of the writings of 
Joachim, was solemnly condemned by Pope Alexander IV., 
Nov. 1255. 

The Albigenses and Waldenses, in France, in the same 
century, and for the same reason, viz. the scandalous lives of 
many of the Clergy, took a similar preterist view of the 
Apocalypse. 

Then followed the “ Black Death,” a visitation plainly fore- 
told in the Book of Revelation (R. ii. 23), whereby the Clergy 
were swept away from the greater part of Europe. The chaos 
resulting from this plague, together with the great Schism of the 
West, led to the troubles which resulted in the Reformation. 
Large branches were broken away from the Church; but there 
was not as yet a reformation in the parent stem. That came 
later with the counter Reformation. 

The Reformation was an event of great importance in the 
elucidation of the Apocalypse. 

Martin Luther at first denied the authority of the Apocalypse. 
The Rev. Moses Stuart, Professor of Sacred Literature in the 
(Protestant) Theological Seminary of Andover, Mass., says: 
“This Reformer, when he published his German translation of 
the New Testament, thrust the Apocalypse from the canon, and 
printed it merely in the way of an Appendix, and an apocryphal 
book. His main reasons were that the book was unintelligible, 
and that there was ‘no Christ in it.’ Subsequent critics, more 
keen-sighted in exegesis than Luther, found, or thought they 
had found, good reason for applying John’s description of the 
beast to the Pope and his adherents. As the contest waxed 
warmer, Luther perceived the advantage of such an ally; and it 
was not long before consent was given to a reception of the 
Apocalypse. Thus the book was restored to its place of honour 
at the close of the canon, and John was converted into one of 
the most formidable assailants of the Romish camp.” (Com- 
mentary on the Apoc. Vol. I, 206.) In England an extensive 
school of exegetes arose who assumed the Pope of Rome to 
be the scarlet woman and the beast! With this key to the 
mystery of the Apocalypse some writers ventured to prophesy 
the exact date of the end of the world. As their dates all 


HISTORY OF THE BOOK 45 


passed away without any disturbance of the usual course of 
events, their works are now discredited. 

This polemical strategy gave rise to a flood of controversial 
literature on the subject of the Apocalypse. Many learned 
Catholics turned their attention to the Book and studied it de 
novo, on their own account. 

Alcazar, a Jesuit of Seville (c. A.D. 1554), showed that the 
Apocalypse contained two themes, one a Jewish theme, and the 
other a pagan Roman theme, in which the troubles and 
triumphs of the Church, at different periods, are revealed. 

Cornelius a Lapide, S.J. (c. A.D. 1625), wrote an exhaustive 
Latin commentary on the Apocalypse. He gave a synopsis of 
the opinions of almost all the principal writers on this subject, 
before his time. He quoted Alcazar freely, but did not adopt 
his opinions. He followed the Antichrist and mystic tradition 
and applied it extensively in his exegesis. 

Grotius and Hammond (c. 1644) supported the ideas of 
Alcazar. 

Holzhauser, a German Priest, who wrote in the year 166, 
explained the Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia as addressed 
to the Seven Ages of the Universal Church. In other respects 
he followed a fanciful exegesis and the Antichrist tradition. 
He died, unfortunately, before completing his work, which 
stopped at Rev. xiv. 4. 

Bossuet, the great Bishop of Meaux, a man trained in Hebrew, 
Greek, and Scriptural learning, wrote a book on the Apocalypse, 
about the year 1670, in which he placed the exegesis of Alcazar 
in such a clear and convincing light, that unprejudiced scholars 
everywhere admitted that the Roman theme related to the 
struggles of the early Church with Rome of the Cesars. This 
led to a fresh inquiry as to the meaning of the number 666, 
usually ascribed to Antichrist. It was not till the nineteenth 
century that the great discovery was made, in Germany, that 
the number 666, in Hebrew “‘ gematria ”’ spelt Kascep Nepov, and 
that the alternative number 616 found in some of the oldest 
MSS., spelt Nero Cesar, as written in Latin. This discovery at 
once solved the chief difficulty of the Apocalypse—the meaning 
of the Beast, and paved the way for an intelligible exegesis. 
We now know that S. John was writing about the Neronian per- 
secution of his own time, and not about Antichrist. 

Moses Stuart, an American Presbyterian Clergyman, before 
noticed, wrote a ‘Commentary on the Apocalypse,” in the 
year 1845. He also was a Hebrew, Greek, Scriptural, and 
German scholar. His work is a monument of learning and of 
painstaking research. He presents us with the views of the 
German writers, “‘the higher critics,’ who did so much at 


46 THE REVELATION 


Tubingen, and elsewhere, during the 18th and roth centuries to © 
throw light on this subject. Moses Stuart strongly supported 
the Neronian date and the Authorship of S. John. He wrote 
the first volume and part of the second volume of his book, to 
vindicate these opinions. His exegesis is, however, con- 
ventional, 

A. Harnack, D.D., wrote an article on the Apocalypse in the 
Encyclopedia Britannica (1883), in which he says: 


‘«‘ All impartial scholars are now agreed that in chapters xiii. and 
xviii. of the Apocalypse we must look for the key to the compre- 
hension of the book, as well as to the question of the date of the 
composition. That the beast (xiii. 1 δέ seg.; xvii. 3 δέ seg.) is the 
Roman Empire, that the seven heads are seven emperors, that the 
woman (xvil. 3, 9) is the city of Rome, that the ten horns (xiii. 1 ; 
Xvii. 3, 12 δέ seg.) are imperial governors—all this is now beyond 
dispute ” (Encyclopedia Britannica, Revelation xx., p. 499). 


Swete, H. B., D.D. Regius Professor of Divinity, Cambridge, 
published a book in 1906, “The Apocalypse of S. John,” an 
exhaustive work on the text of Revelation, with a valuable intro- 
duction and notes. He does not offer an English version of his 
own, but his apparatus criticus shows that he holds conservative 
views. His name appears frequently in this book. 

Dr. Hort, of Cambridge, left a posthumous work, edited by 
Dr. Sandys of Oxford in 1908. It is very valuable for its 
, scholarly introduction and apparatus criticus. Unfortunately 
it only goes as far as Chapter 1. of the Apocalypse. 

In conclusion, it may be said that although 2oth century writers 
are agreed as to the meaning of the Roman theme of the Apoca- 
lypse, there is still great divergence of opinion on other points. 
The Letters to the Seven Churches are still taken to refer to 
the local Churches of Asia. The meanings of the seals and 
trumpets in the first or Jewish theme, and of the vials in the 
Roman theme, are variously interpreted. There is no agree- 
ment as to the exact meaning of the millennium. There is a 
strong tendency to find Antichrist in the Book, and the tradition 
of the middle ages respecting the Domitian date of the Book, 
still lingers on. 


III 
HISTORIC NOTES 


For centuries before the birth of Christ the monotheism of the 
Jews had eaten into the old pagan cults, and left them hollow 
and insincere. “Idols of gold and silver, and brass, and stone, 
and wood, which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk ”’ (R. ix. 20), 
had multiplied to such an extent that they were discredited in 
the eyes of educated men. In the reign of Augustus the de- 
cadence of the old paganism was remarkable. Horace and 
Propertius tell us that cobwebs veiled the altars, that sacred 
images were blackened with smoke in crumbling shrines. 
Central temples, foci of religious life, were falling into decay. 
Jupiter Foretrius was unroofed, Juno Sospita, filthy and 
deserted. The world was ripe for a more reasonable cult of 
the Divine. 

Then Christ appeared upon Earth, and Christianity began to 
spread over the Roman Empire. Satan baffled by the progress 
of the early Church and the decline of the old paganism, sought 
in Cesar worship a new lease of his rule on earth. That is 
how:'the Roman Theme of Revelation begins (Ch. xii. xiii.). 
The Czsars began to take themselves as Gods, and Cesar 
worship, cunningly entwined with politics, came to the rescue 
of dying paganism. It became the settled policy of the Roman 
Senate, and hierarchy, to encourage the worship of the Cesars 
- with a view to the stability of the Empire, and the permanence 
of its religious orders. Czsar worship was identified with the 
power and majesty of the Roman Empire. It swept aside all 
other cults, and reigned supreme in the hearts of those who 
were Imperialists. Sacrifice to the Emperor became the 
touchstone of loyalty as well as of religion. 

This was no new or untried experiment. Rome borrowed 
Cesar worship from the East. The Egyptians identified the 
Pharaohs with their Gods. Alexander the Great by his con- 
quests in Egypt, became an Egyptian Divinity. His Greek 
subjects addicted to Hero worship, added him to the roll of 
their Gods. And so the evil spread to Hellenised Asia, where 
many Royal Divinities appeared, of whom the most noted 

47 


48 THE REVELATION 


were Ptolemy I. “ Soter,” (Saviour), Antiochus IV. “ Epiphanes” 
(God Manifest), and Seleucus, “‘ Zeus Nikator” (Conquering 
God). 

Julius Czsar was placed amongst the Hero Gods, c. 45 B.C. 
With him the Roman line of Royal Gods began. His statue 
was put up in the temple of Quirinus, with the inscription ‘‘ To 
the invincible οὔ." Subsequently a temple was dedicated to 
him as Jupiter Julius, anda special priest offered sacrifice in his 
honour (Dion Cass. xlvii. 18, 33). His successor, Octavius 
Cesar, was raised to the altar by slow and cautious steps. 

About the year 27 B.c. Octavius accepted the title of Augustus, 
meaning “ consecrated to God.” His worship was not pressed 
at Rome. But the ultra loyal cities of the Province of Asia, 
were encouraged to erect temples to Augustus—Augusteum 
Cesareum. ‘Tacitus says, “ἃ mortal man was adored and 
priests were appointed to pay him impious homage’”’ (Annals I. 10). 
Tiberius, who followed, was honoured with temples erected to 
his Divinity in Asia. ‘Then Rome itself became familiarised 
with the new Cult. From Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos, 
the tide of Czsar worship flowed back upon the capital. Caius 
Cesar, (Caligula), who succeeded Tiberius believed himself to 
be a God, and tried to force the worship of his image upon the 
Jews in the Temple of Jerusalem. Claudius, who followed, 
erected a Temple to the “ Divine Claudius” at Camuldonum = 
Colchester. Suetonius tells us that he was numbered amongst 
the Gods. Nero, the sixth, and reigning Czsar when our 
history opens, was accorded divine honours both at Rome and 
in the Provinces. His worship was nowhere more prevalent 
than at Ephesus. Inscriptions found at Ephesus, show that he 
was worshipped as “Almighty God,” and ‘“‘ Saviour.’’ Such 
titles were given to the Roman Emperors in temple inscriptions, 
found at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, and Sardis (Fiddes 
Owens Coll. Hist. Essy., p. 6). 

The longest theme in the Apocalypse extending from the 
12th to the 2oth chapter is devoted to the exposure, condem- 
nation, and punishment of Cesar worship. 

In S. John’s day the Jews had considerable influence at 
Rome. Large colonies of Jews had long been settled in the 
chief cities of the Empire. At Alexandria there were over a 
million Jews. There were large Jewries at Rome. Julius 
Cesar and Augustus sought to purchase their political aid by 
many favours. Josephus mentions twenty-eight decrees in 
favour of the Jews after B.c..49 (Ants. xiv. Io). A special 
decree gave them the right to send their annual subsidy to the 
Temple of Jerusalem, and to use their own laws and customs 
(Ants. xvi. vi. 6). 


HISTORIC NOTES 49 


Herod Agrippa, an Idumean Jew, was the friend of Drusus, 
and the companion of Caligula. A decree granting privileges 
to the Jews throughout the Empire, dated between A.D. 41 and 
44, is headed “ Tiberius Claudius Czesar Augustus Germanicus, 
High Priest, Tribune of the people, chosen Consul the second 
time, ordains thus. Upon the petition of King Agrippa, and 
King Herod, who are persons very dear to me” (Ant. XIX. v. 3). 

Some twelve years before Nero's persecution the Jews were 
so enraged at the rapid growth of Christianity in the City of 
Rome, that they opposed its teaching by force. S. Peter’s 
open-air preaching in the Nomentian Way, was interfered with, 
by hostile crowds with noisy rioting. Rome would not tolerate 
public disturbances. Accordingly Claudius Czsar issued an 
edict expelling the Jews from Rome. We find S. Paul at 
Corinth, meeting Aquila, one of the expelled Jews. “ And 
finding a certain Jew, named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately 
come from Italy, with Priscilla, his wife, because that Claudius 
had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome” (Acts xviii. 2). 
It seems that S. Peter was also expelled from Rome. He 
went there in the reign of Claudius, and preached the faith 
publicly to the Romans (Euseb. H. E. II. 14). In those days 
Christians were taught in the public cemeteries. Burial clubs 
and funeral associations, as well as graveyards, cemeteries and 
catacombs, were held sacred by the Romans, and enjoyed the 
privilege of sanctuary, down to the time of Valerian. As time 
wore on the cleavage between Jews and Christians in manners, 
appearance, faith, and practice became more and more apparent 
to the Roman world. As Gibbon remarks, The Jews were a 
nation ; the Christians were a sect (D. and F. xvi.). In the 
Imperial City the great majority of the Christians were 
Romans, mostly plebeian freemen and slaves. S. Paul in his 
epistle to the Philippians, written from Rome, c. 62, says “ All 
the saints (dyvor) salute you, especially they that are of Czsar’s 
household” (iv. 22), showing that Christianity had many ad- 
herents even in Nero’s palace. 

On the death of Claudius, in the year 54, many of the Jews 
who had been expelled, returned to Rome, their enmity to 
Christianity sharpened by their banishment. They soon regained 
their former influence, and their position was strengthened by 
Nero’s marriage in the year 62 with Poppza Sabina, a friend of 
the Jews. When Felix was procurator of Judza, Josephus 
went to Rome. He says, “1 became acquainted with Alityrus, 
an actor of plays, and much beloved by Nero, but a Jew by 
birth, and through his interest became known to Poppza, 
Cesar’s wife” (Life, sect. 3). The Jews lived under the pro- 
tection of the Emperor, in their own quarters of the city. 

4 


50 THE REVELATION 


On the roth of July, a.p. 64, a great fire broke out in Rome 
in the direction of the Circus Maximus, and spread to the 
Forum, the Velabrum, and part of the Palatine. This con- 
flagration lasted for six days, and was followed by another on 
the opposite side of the city which destroyed the Campus 
Martius, the Quirinal and the Viminal. Ten out of the fourteen 
districts of the city were burnt down. Bya strange chance, 
the Porta Capena and the Trastevere, two Jewish quarters, 
escaped the fire! 

When the Roman citizens recovered from the shock of this 
calamity and had time to reflect upon its cause, their suspicions 
fell on Nero. Knowing the character of the man, the con- 
viction grew that Cesar himself had set fire to Rome to make 
a new sensation, or that he might rebuild the city on a scale of 
grandeur suitable to his taste. Murmurs arose, and a sedition 
threatened the throne. Then Nero accused the Christians of 
having set fire to Rome, and incited the mob to violence 
against them. 

It is noteworthy that Gibbon conjectures that the persecution 
of Nero was contrived by the Jews. He says: 


“ Tacitus very frequently trusts to the curiosity or reflection of his 
readers to supply those intermediate circumstances and ideas which, 
in his extreme conciseness, he has thought proper to suppress. We 
may, therefore, presume to imagine some probable cause which could 
direct the cruelty of Nero against the Christians of Rome, whose 
obscurity, as well as innocence, should have shielded them from his 
indignation, and even from his notice. The Jews, who were 
numerous in the capital, and oppressed in their own country, were 
‘a much fitter object for the suspicions of the Emperor and of the 
people; nor did it seem unlikely that a vanquished nation, who 
already discovered their abhorrence of the Roman yoke, might have 
recourse to the most atrocious means of gratifying their implacable 
revenge. But the Jews possessed very powerful advocates in the 
palace, and even in the heart of the tyrant: his wife and mistress, 
the beautiful Poppza, and a favourite player of the race of Abraham 
(Alityrus, the mime), who had already employed their intercession on 
behalf of the obnoxious people. In their room, it was necessary to offer 
some other victims, and it might easily be suggested that, although 
the genuine followers of Moses were innocent of the fire of Rome, 
there had risen among them a new and pernicious sect of Galileans, 
which was capable of the most horrid crimes. . . .’’ (Ὁ. and F., i. 16). 


The Roman citizens would not have awaited Nero’s orders 
if there had been any evidence in July that the Christians were 
guilty of setting fire to the city. They would have massacred 
them at once. Christians were already looked upon with dis- 
favour as belonging to an atheistical and secret society, shunning 


HISTORIC NOTES 51 


their fellow men. But a long delay took place, from July to 
November, before any steps were taken, showing that the 
criminal charge was an afterthought, born of Nero’s danger 
and Jewish hatred of Christianity. 

Suetonius and Dion Cassius both attribute the burning of 
Rome to agents employed by Nero for that purpose. ‘Tacitus 
gives the following account of these events : 


“.Α suspicion prevailed that to build a new city and give it his own 
name was the ambition of Nero. Of the fourteen quarters into 
which Rome was divided, four only were left entire, three were 
reduced to ashes, and the remaining seven presented nothing better 
than a heap of shattered houses, half in ruins. ... The next care 
was to propitiate the Gods. The Sibylline books were consulted 
and the consequence was that supplications were decreed to Vulcan, 
Ceres, and to Proserpine.... But neither these religious cere- 
monies, nor the liberal donations of the prince, could efface from the 
minds of men the prevailing opinion that Rome was set on fire by 
his own orders. The infamy of that horrible transaction still adhered 
to him. In order if possible to remove the imputation, he deter- 
mined to transfer the guilt to others. For this purpose he punished 
with exquisite torture a race of men detested for their evil practices, 
by vulgar appellation commonly called Christians. The name was 
derived from Christ, who in the reign of Tiberius, suffered under 
Pontius Pilate, the Procurator of Judea. By that event the sect of 
which he was the founder, received a blow, which, for a time, 
checked the growth of a dangerous superstition. But it revived soon 
after and spread with renewed vigour, not only in Judza, the soil that 
gave it birth, but even the city of Rome, the common sink, into 
which everything infamous and abominable flows like a torrent from 
all quarters of the world. Nero proceeded with his usual artifice. 
He found a set of profligate and abandoned wretches, who were 
induced to confess themselves guilty, and on the evidence of such 
men a number of Christians were convicted. Not, indeed, on clear 
evidence of having set the city on fire, but rather on account of their 
sullen hatred of the whole human race. They were put to death 
with exquisite cruelty, and to their sufferings Nero added mockery 
and derision. Some were covered with the skins of wild beasts, and 
left to be devoured by dogs; others were nailed to the cross; 
numbers were burnt alive; and many covered with inflammable 
materials, were lighted up, to serve as torches during the night. For 
the convenience of seeing this tragic spectacle, the emperor lent his 
own gardens. He added the sports of the circus and assisted in 
person, sometimes driving a curricle, and occasionally mixing with 
the rabble in his coachman’s dress. At length the cruelty of these 
proceedings filled every breast with compassion. Humanity relented 
in favour of the Christians. The manners of that people were no 
doubt of a pernicious tendency, and their crimes called for the hand 
of justice; but it was evident that they fell a sacrifice, not for the 


52 THE REVELATION 


public good, but to glut the rage and cruelty of one man only” 
(Anls. xv. 40-44). 


Tacitus was about twelve years of age at the time of Nero’s 
persecution. He was a man of good family, educated at Rome, 
in touch with those who knew the truth. His “ Annals” were 

‘written in the reign of Trajan, when he had no interests to 
serve, save those of historic accuracy. He says that the 
Christians were convicted, not so much for the crime of setting 
fire to the city as for their hatred of the human race. Odio 
humani generis convicti. ‘That is, for their “religion,” or the 
aspect of it most displeasing to Rome, their aloofness from the 
vicious pleasures of the world. 

Mob violence would have exhausted itself before the lapse 
of many days, but under the guidance of Nero, the casual 
vengeance of the Romans was directed against the Christians 
as asect. What began as a massacre ended in a persecution. 
Nero resolved to convert the Christians by force, or extirpate 
them from his capital. In this we may suspect the working of 
Jewish influences behind the throne, for zeal for religion was 
not one of Nero's characteristics. Christians were offered the 
choice of death or worship of the national Gods. 

Persecution broke out at Rome in November, A.D. 64. It 
was the policy of the Romans in times of persecution to seize 
the Christian leaders first and make an example of them. 
S. Peter was at Rome, a well-known leader, hated by the Jews. 
He must have perished amongst the first. Bishop Le Camus, 
in his “ Life of Christ,” assigns S. Peter’s martyrdom to the 
year 64. 

The horrors of Nero’s persecution recoiled upon his own 
head. The cup of his iniquity was filled. He had already 
murdered his mother and his wife Octavia. In the year 65 he 
killed his wife Poppza. “She died of a kick on her womb, 
which Nero gave her in a sudden passion, though she was then 
advanced in pregnancy” (Tacit. Anls. xvi. 6). The tyrant was 
hated by all the better class of Romans on account of his 
insatiable thirst for human blood. The formidable conspiracy 
of Piso broke out and had very nearly dragged Nero from the 
throne, but for the asual betrayals. In this conspiracy Seneca 
and Lucan the poet perished, and many others of the best blood 
of Rome. 

In the year 66 the affair of Tiridates the Arsacid gave a 
temporary stay to the growing hatred of Nero. Tiridates came 
to Rome to receive at the hands of Nero the crown of the 
kingdom of Armenia. According to Dion Cassius, who was 
Consul in A.D. 220, Tiridates left Armenia with a suite of 
Armenian nobles on horseback, and rode all the way to the 


HISTORIC NOTES 53 


Ionian and Illyrian Sea. He took nine months on this journey. 
The cities through which he passed were splendidly adorned, 
and received him with acclamation. The people furnished him 
with everything. 

‘Nero was then at Naples, and in that city, the eastern prince was 
admitted to his presence. The spectacle was magnificent. It served 
at once to gratify the pride of a Roman emperor, and for a time to 
soothe the affliction of the people.... Nero proceeded with a 
grand cavalcade to Rome, where the most splendid preparations were 
made for his reception. The whole city was illuminated and the 
houses decorated with garlands and laurel wreaths. The people 
crowded together from all quarters and rent the air with shouts and 
acclamations, while the emperor, with Tiridates and the Parthian 
nobility in his train, made his triumphal entry. A day was fixed for the 
coronation. Nothing could equal the pomp and splendour with which 
that ceremony was performed” (Tacit. App. to Anls. xvi. 2, Murphy). 


The prodigious magnificence of the public spectacle is 
described by Suetonius, in “ Nero,” 13. Pliny mentions the 
decorations of the theatre and the vast display of gold on that 
occasion, Lib. xxiii. 3. So does Dion Cassius, Lib. lxii. It 
was the chief event of the year 66, when S. John was sent to 
exile. It is referred to inthe Apocalypse. In the year 67 Nero 
absented himself from Italy, and gathered laurels, by an un- 
scrupulous use of power, at the Olympian games in Greece. 
He came back to Rome and was accorded a triumphal entry, 
and hailed as a God (Dion, “Nero’’). In the meantime a storm 
had been gathering in Gaul. Julius Vindex, the Governor of a 
Province in Gaul, openly rebelled and called upon Galba, the 
Governor of Hither Spain, to assist the liberty of mankind 
by accepting the Imperial throne. As the result of this con- 
spiracy, Nero found himself before long abandoned on all sides. 
He was condemned by the Senate. ‘‘ With one voice they 
declared the tyrant, who had trampled on all laws human and 
divine, a public enemy, and by their sentence condemned him 
to suffer death” (Tacit. App. to Anls. xvi. 13, Murphy). 

Nero fled to the villa of his freedman (Phaon) about four 
miles from Rome, and there died by the “ sword.” ‘‘ Nero seized 
his dagger and stabbed himself in the throat. The stroke was 
too feeble, Epaphroditus lent his assistance, and the next blow 
was a mortal wound” (Tacit. App. to Anls. xvi. 14, Murphy). 

Josephus, who went to Rome in the train of Titus, two years 
later, says that “Nero, deserted by all his guards, ran away 
with four of his most trusty freedmen, and slew himself in the 
suburbs of Rome” (Wars iv. 9, 2). Dion Cassius gives the 
same account of Nero’s death, attributing it to the sword, his 
own or his attendant’s. See R. xiii. ro. 


Qe THE REVELATION 


Nero's superlative wickedness made an extraordinary impres- 
sion upon the men of his own and succeeding generations. It 
was commonly believed that there was something supernatural 
about him, and that he would come to life again and triumph 
over all his enemies. Many Christians thought he would return 
again as Antichrist. There is an allusion to this superstition 
in the Apocalypse. 

We must turn now to the Jewish war which ran pari passu 
with these events. It ensued on the seditions and revolts of 
the year 66, when S. John was exiled to Patmos. Nero fore- 
seeing a great war impending in Judea, sent Vespasian, a 
general who had acquired fame in Britain, to take command of 
the Army in Judea. Vespasian set out for the seat of war in 
the year 66. 

He sent his son Titus to bring up the fifth and tenth legions 
from Alexandria, whilst he himself entered Syria, where he 
gathered the Roman forces, together with a considerable 
number of auxiliaries from the kings in that neighbourhood 
(Josephus, Wars III. i. 1). In the spring of 67 the Roman 
General flooded the Jewish land with troops (see Rev. xii. 15). 
First, Vespasian marched on the city of Gadara, which he 
captured. ‘“ He came then into it, and slew all the youth, the 
Romans having no mercy on any age whatsoever.... He 
also set fire, not only to the city itself, but to all the villas and 
small cities that were round about 1{᾿᾿ (Josephus, Wars III. 
vii. 1). Then he laid siege to Jotapata, a strong fortress where 
Josephus had gathered together his army. The siege of 
Jotapata stayed the tide of invasion for forty-seven days, when 
it was betrayed, and taken by Vespasian (see Rev. xil. 16). 
The inhabitants were slaughtered, with the exception of women 
and infants, who were led away captive, and the city and 
fortifications burnt down. Josephus was taken prisoner, and 
accompanied the Roman army to Jerusalem. Inthe meanwhile 
Simon, a Jew, with a large band of robbers, ravaged the country 
in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and inflicted terrible woes 
upon the Jews. 

Next the Roman legions destroyed Joppa and Taricheze and 
Gamala. The city of Gischala was taken. From here one 
John of Gischala, the incarnation of wickedness, according to 
Josephus, managed to escape, with a band of robbers, to 
Jerusalem. 

This John, gathered to himself the headstrong zealots, who 
were at feud with the pacific elders in Jerusalem. With their 
aid he seized upon the Temple, which he made his head- 
quarters. He also appointed the high priest. From the 
Temple he waged incessant war upon the rest of Jerusalem, 


HISTORIC NOTES ge: 


carrying fire and sword throughout the city and polluting the 
Temple with every form of vice. 

Vespasian marched to Antipatris, to Lydda and Jamnia, 
accepting the submission of these cities, and laying waste and 
burning the villages on the way. He destroyed Bethletephon 
and the neighbouring places by fire, and captured Betaris and 
oe villages of Idumea, and slew the inhabitants (see 

. Vili. 7). , 

He was about to march upon Jerusalem, when the death of 
Nero changed his plans. That was about the end of June 68, 
as Nero died on the 11th of June in that year. He, therefore, 
waited events. 

At this time one Simon, a robber, was actively carrying on a 
civil war in Idumea. Driving that nation before him, he com- 
pelled the greater number to enter Jerusalem, which he 
encompassed with his army, so that he became a greater terror 
to the place than the Romans (Josephus, Wars IV. ix.7). The 
people of Jerusalem, suffering death at the hands of John of 
Gischala and one Eleazar, who had separated from him, 
invited Simon to enter the city. He did so, and for a time the 
city was divided into three factions fighting against each 
other. Then all combined against the unfortunate inhabitants. 
The result of this fighting about the Temple is related by 
Josephus : 


“ For those darts that were thrown by the engines came with that 
force that they went over all the buildings, and the Temple itself, 
and fell upon the priests and those that were about the sacred offices ; 
insomuch that many persons who came thither with great zeal from 
the ends of the earth, to offer sacrifices at this celebrated place, which 
was esteemed holy by all mankind, fell down before their sacrifices 
themselves, and sprinkled that altar, which was venerable among all 
men, both Greeks and barbarians, with their own blood; till the 
dead bodies of strangers were mingled together with those of their 
own country, and those of profane persons with those of priests, and 
the blood of all sorts of dead carcasses stood in lakes in the holy 
courts themselves. And now ‘O most wretched city, what misery 
so great as this didst thou suffer from the Romans ?’”’ 


In the year 69 Vespasian was called to the throne. He left 
his son Titus to finish the war. ᾿ 

Titus began the siege of Jerusalem in the spring of 70. This 
had the effect of uniting all the rebel forces in Jerusalem. The 
resistance he encountered was so great that he built a wall 
round the city, with a view to reducing it by famine. Here we 
may note that at the feast of the passover A.D. 65 there were 
3,000,000 Jews present in Jerusalem. Josephus says: 


56 THE REVELATION 

‘‘ Now of those that perished by famine in the city the number - 
was prodigious, and the miseries they underwent were unspeakable ; 
for if so much as the shadow of any kind of food did anywhere 
appear, a war was commenced presently; and the dearest friends 
fell a-fighting, one with another, about it, snatching from each other 
the most miserable supports of life. Nor would men believe that 
those who were dying had no food, but the robbers would search 
them when they were expiring, lest anyone should have concealed 
food in their bosoms, and counterfeited dying; nay, these robbers 
gaped for want, and ran about, stumbling and staggering along like 
mad dogs, and reeling against the doors of the houses like drunken 
men; they would also, in the great distress they were in, rush into 
the very same houses two or three times in one and the same day. 
Moreover, their hunger was so intolerable, that it obliged them to 
chew everything, while they gathered such things as the most sordid 
animals would not touch, and endured to eat them; nor did they at 
length abstain from girdles and shoes, and the very leather which 
belonged to their shields they pulled off and gnawed: the very wisps 
of old hay became food to some” (Wars VI. iii. 3). (See the 
“black horse,” R. vi. 5.) 


In August a.D. 70 the Roman soldiers forced an entrance 
into the Temple, which was burnt down.. The upper city was 
taken on the 7th September 70; then the whole of Jerusalem 
was given up to fire and slaughter. Many of the unfortunate 
Jews who survived the siege were put to death. The rest were 
sold into slavery, or taken to Rome to grace the triumph of 
Titus and the public spectacles of the amphitheatres (The 
second and third woes, R. xi. 14). The city. was levelled 
with the ground. Thus perished after 600 years the Temple of 
the old law, the centre of true religion before the coming of 
Christ. It perished in the same month and on the same day, 
the roth of August, on which the former Temple, of Solomon, 
was burnt by Nebuchadnezzar. 

Later on the Jews managed to return in great numbers, and 
occupy the city again. In the course of time, before the close 
of Trajan’s reign in 117, they felt themselves strong enough to 
rebel against Rome again. A second army of Roman legions 
descended upon them with fire and sword. When they had 
recovered from this punishment, their obstinacy again led them 
into rebellion, in the reign of Hadrian, A.D. 134. It was during 
this reign that one Barcochebas, calling himself the Messias, 
gathered about him the remnant of the Jewish race. They 
flocked to his standard from all parts of Judea. 

We read in S. John’s Gospel (v. 43): “1 am come in the 
name of my Father, and you receive me not: if another shall 
come in his own name, him you will receive.” Jesus said this 
to the Jews, who sought to kill Him. And so it happened, 


HISTORIC NOTES | 57 


Barcochebas, coming in his own name as a Messias, was 
received. He preached the gospel of rebellion, thinking to 
found that earthly kingdom which the Jews both longed for 
and expected. The consequence was a third and last catas- 
trophe. Hadrian sent a large army against them, under the 
command of Tinnius Rufus and Julius Severus, who in the 
_ space of two years, 134 to 136, destroyed 985 towns and 50 

fortresses. 580,000 Jews perished by the sword alone. Many 
more perished by fire, sickness, and famine. Those who 
escaped death were dispersed, and sold like cattle about the 
Empire. In no country were they afterwards greater strangers 
than in Judea. A ploughshare was drawn over the consecrated 
Temple ground as a sign of perpetual interdiction. 

After the destruction of Jerusalem by Hadrian, a new city, 
called Alia, after the Emperor, lius Hadrian, was built upon 
its ruins. This was inhabited by pagans, also by Roman and 
Syrian Christians. Jews were not allowed to come within three 
miles of it for about three centuries. Tertullian informs us that 
they paid large sums to be permitted to come near and behold 
at a distance the ruins of their former city. 

In the year 134, Marcus, a Gentile, was made Bishop of 
‘Jerusalem. The Church was then composed mainly of Gentile 
Christians, who were not affected by Hadrian’s edict of expul- 
sion. Its adherents were able to point out to S. Helena, the 
Mother of Constantine, the sites of the crucifixion and of the 
Holy Sepulchre ; but they were too weak to prevent the Romans 
from covering them up with soil. Eusebius in his “ Martyrs of 
Palestine,” mentions Procopius, a Christian of A®lia, showing 
that Christians dwelt in Jerusalem up to the time of Constan- 
tine. (See “ Acts of the Passion of Procopius.’’) 

The Nazarene Church warned by the Revelation of S. John, 
fled from Jerusalem and the neighbouring parts of Judea, to 
Pella, when the siege of Jotapata held back the forces of 
Vespasian. This Church was apparently a small body. Its 
movements are not noticed by historians. Epiphanius says in 
his book, “de Ponderibus et Mensuris,” that the disciples of 
Christ, being warned by an angel, removed to Pella; and after- 
wards, when Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem, and renamed it Alia 
Capitolina, they returned thither. 

The fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple and the 
dispersal of the Jews, constituted a religious upheaval (earth- 
quake the Apocalypse calls it, R. xi. 13) of an extraordinary 
_ character. This was the event looked forward to and predicted 
_ by the prophets of the O.T. It was a reversal of the spiritual 
policy heretofore existing between God and man. The covenant 
with the Jews was finally broken, and replaced by the Kingdom 


58 THE REVELATION 


of Christ. Upto that time the Temple had been the chief place 
of worship frequented by our Lord and the Apostles. After that 
time Judaism was dropped and Christianity reigned supreme. 

Gibbon saw the epoch making character of the event, when he 
drew attention to ‘‘ The holy instruments of Jewish worship, the 
gold table and the gold candlestick with seven branches, 
originally framed according to the particular instructions of God 
Himself, which were placed in the sanctuary of His Temple... 
and ostentatiously displayed to the Roman people in the 
triumph of Titus” (D. and F., chapter xxxvi.). It is an event 
which enters largely into the subject of the Revelation. We 
shall look back upon it frequently from the pages of the 
Commentary. 

When Nero died, civil wars broke out between pretenders to 
the throne, and the empire was deluged with Roman blood. 
Galba reigned but a few months. Otho, proclaimed Emperor 
by his legions, attacked Galba and slew him in the Forum. 
Then Vitellius, proclaimed emperor by the German legions, 
attacked Otho. Four considerable battles were fought between 
them, before Otho, defeated near Cremona, stabbed himself to 
death. After that Vespasian was hailed Emperor by his legions 
at Alexandria. He marched against Vitellius, defeated and slew 
him at the gate of Rome. Rome became a scene of slaughter, 
and the Capitol was reduced to ashes. All these things, which 
marked the beginning of the end of Rome, came to pass a few 
months after the Apocalypse was written. (“The things 
which must shortly come to pass,” R. i. 1.) Vespasian was 
followed by his son Titus. This very remarkable man was 
known as “the delight of mankind.” It is said of him that, 
having once passed a day without doing some good action, he 
said: ‘‘ My friends, I have lost a day” (The star, R. viii. 10). 
In his reign the volcano in Mount Vesuvius was in violent 
action. The cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were com- 
pletely destroyed by streams of lava, and the greater part of 
Italy was covered with ashes. To this cause was attributed the 
great plague which devastated the country, and, it is said, 
carried off daily for a considerable time 10,000 persons in Rome 
alone (The “‘ white horse,” R. vi. 8). 

Titus was followed by Domitian, the author of the second 
persecution, which lasted a short time, and ended with his 
death, in 96. 

We have noticed that a casual remark of S. Irenzeeus—viz., 
that the Apocalypse was seen at the end of Domitian’s reign, 
gave rise to an opinion in the Middle Ages, that there was a 
great persecution in Domitian’s reign, and that S. John was 
exiled to Patmos at that time. 


HISTORIC NOTES 59 


The Domitian persecution is a question of first-class import- 
ance as regards the date and exegesis of the Apocalypse. If 
it can be shown that the Domitian persecution was not severe 


and did not reach Ephesus, where S. John dwelt, it will be 


evident that the medieval interpreters of S. Irenzeus, read into 
his casual remark, a meaning that he did not intend to convey. 
Fortunately for our enquiry this period of history is illuminated 
by the writings of many contemporary historians. Tacitus, 
who was Consul in the year 97, wrote a “ History” of the 
Emperors, and “Annals” of their reigns, Suetonius who was 
afterwards. Chief Secretary to the Emperor Hadrian, and who 
was a frequenter of the law courts of Domitian, wrote “The lives 
of the twelve Cesars,” from Julius Cesar to Domitian. Juvenal 
was preparing his “‘Satires” on the vicious state of Roman society 
at the end of the first century. Quintilian was teaching 
rhetoric at Rome. Martial was publishing his poems. Josephus 
was resident at Rome, publishing his “‘ Wars of the Jews’”’ and 
other books. Pliny, the younger, was President of the military 
tribunal at Rome, and Clemens Romanus the oldest of the 
Fathers of the Church was Bishop of Rome. He has left us in 
his Epistle to the Corinthians his view of the Domitian persecu- 
tion. All of these contemporary writers give evidence on the 
events of that time, the cumulative effect of which is strongly 
against the view that Domitian persecuted the Church. 

Titus Flavius Domitian was the younger son of Vespasian. 
He was a member of the Flavian family, specially chosen by 
God to execute His judgments on the Jewish race. His father 
Vespasian and his brother Titus were instrumental in the fulfil- 
ment of the prophecies of the Old Testament. They were, 
both of them, remarkably good men, as good men were reckoned 
in those days. Domitian was destined in a way to complete the 
punishment of the Jews, by fleecing them of their money. One 
would not expect any member of this family raised up to the 
throne of the Czsars, with the divine mission of punishing the 
Jews, to persecute also the children of the Kingdom of Christ. 

Domitian succeeded his brother Titus, A.D. 81. For many 
years he reigned wisely. He was of studious and literary tastes 
and appointed a college and priests of Minerva. He erected 
templesto the Gods. He reformed the administration of justice 
both at home and in the provinces. Suetonius, who was a 
young man at the time, gives him a very good character at this 
period of his reign, in his “ Lives of the XII. Czsars” (Dom.). 
He was generous as wellas just. He refused estates left to him 
as legacies by those who had children. He put a stop to 
treasury prosecutions got up by informers, and discouraged 
their vicious trade. Suetonius tells us that magistrates and 


60 THE REVELATION 


governors of provinces never were so just and impartial as they - 
were in Domitian’s day. Quintilian calls him ‘‘ sanctissimus 
censor”’ (Inst. Orat. iv. Pro.). His vigilance extended to the 
morals of the people. He interdicted the making of eunuchs 
and the worst forms of vice. He banished vestal virgins who 
were peccant, and buried alive one, more profligate than the 
rest. Martial congratulates him on restoring the temples to 
the Gods, and morals to the people. Suetonius says that he 
restored at great expense the Libraries which had been destroyed 
by the fire, and sent scribes to Alexandria to copy the books in 
the great Library there (Dom.). 

With all this solicitude for public rectitude and morality, 
Domitian was, in private life, according to Tacitus and Juvenal, 
a debauchee. History, however, tells the same tale of other 
great men, who had not the excuse of paganism. 

Like his predecessors on the throne, Domitian was more or 
less impressed with the idea of his divinity. But Mommsen 
holds that Aurelian was the first Emperor to assume divinity, 
officially. 

In the year 93 an event took place which seems to have 
completely altered his character. Antonius Saturninus, a 
general who commanded the legions in Upper Germany, 
revolted with two legions and was joined by the Germans. 
He was defeated by a Roman army under Norbanus. Treason- 
able correspondence involving noble families at Rome was 
found upon him. These incriminating papers are said to have 
been destroyed by Norbanus (Dion. “ Dom.’’). But Domitian 
could not forget that Nero, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, had lost 
their thrones and lives through similar revolts. He suspected 
the Roman nobles about him of a plot against his throne and 
life, and was cast into a paroxysm of rage and fear. He shut 
himself up in his palace and walked alone in a marble gallery, 
whose black walls, highly polished, reflected objects behind 
him. He became the prey of informers who saw their oppor- 
tunity had come again, and multiplied themselves accordingly. 
He put to death a great many of the senators. Amongst them 
Civica Cerealis, Pro-Consul of Africa, and Salvidienus Orfitus, 
and Acilius Glabrio, while in exile, on pretence of their designing 
an insurrection (Suet. Dom.). Glabrio, who was Consul in the 
year gI, is, for no apparent reason, claimed as a Christian. 
Elias Lamias was put to death for old and harmless jests; 
Junius Ruflicus for publishing a treatise in praise of Thraseas 
and Helvidius; the son of Helvidius, a friend of Tacitus, for a 
stage allusion to divorce. Salvinus perished for having cele- 
brated the birthday of his Uncle Otho; Metius Pomposianus 
because he was born under a constellation which promised him 


HISTORIC NOTES 61 


a throne; Lucullus, for having invented a lance which he called 
by his own name; Flavius Sabinus, because a herald, by 
mistake, proclaimed him Emperor instead of Consul; Epaphro- 
ditas, Domitian’s secretary, because he was one of those who 
fled with Nero, and helped him to kill himself (Suet. Dom., 
Dion. LXVII. 2). Many others were put to death with torture, 
in consequence of the revolt, amongst these the pretorian 
_ prefects in the time of their magistracy. Tacitus says that in 

the latter end of his reign Domitian, not at intervals, but by 
one stroke, as it were, aimed at destroying the commonwealths. 
These actions wear the appearance of having been caused by 
the madness of fright. Informers were everywhere. Men feared 
to speak or even to listen in public. All those who could do so 
abandoned Rome and fled to country villas. . 

One of Domitian’s earliest victims was his cousin Flavius 
Clemens, who had been recently his colleague in the Consul- 
ship. This man stood so near the throne that his sons were 
adopted by Domitian as his successors, for he was childless. 
Flavius Clemens was put to death, suddenly, without trial, 
according to Suetonius. J 

This is the testimony of Suetonius. Denique Flaviwm 
Clementem, patruelem suum, contemptissime inertia (cujus filios, 
etiam tum parvulos, successores palam destinaverat, et abolito priore 
nomine, alterum Vespasianum appellart jusserat, alterwm Domi- 
tianum), repente, ex tenuissima suspicione, tantum non in tpso ejus 
consulatu interemit (Dom.). 

Nothing is known of what became of these two boys, re- 
named by Domitian, Vespasian and Domitian. But Domitilla 
the wife of Flavius Clemens, Domitian’s sister’s child, was 
banished to Pandataria, one of the Pontian Islands, in the 
Mediterranean Sea: a place reserved for the peccant ladies of 
the families of the Czsars. Julia the daughter of Augustus, 
Agrippina, the widow of Germanicus, and Octavia the wife of 
Nero, were previously banished there. 

Here another witness comes in, Dion Cassius, who was born 
in Bithynia, about A.D. 155. He rose to a high position in the 
Roman world, becoming Senator in 180, Consul in 220, and 
again in 229. He wrote a history of Rome, about a hundred 
years after these events, in which he says the pretext made use 
of to condemn Clemens was that he and his wife Flavia Domi- 
tilla were guilty of atheism. To those on the spot it appeared 
that the suspicion of treason was sufficient, and it probably was 
at the first period of Domitian’s outburst. But there is evidence 
that Domitian was raising money from his Jewish subjects by 
extortion, and from wealthy Romans on the plea that they were 
Judaisers. 


62 THE REVELATION 


Dion Cassius, who wrote in Greek, uses the expression,- 
ἔγκλημα abéornros— the accusation of Godlessness.” He says 
that many were punished who had embraced the custom of the 
Jews—ra τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἤθη. 

To understand the real significance of this statement we 
must look into the condition of Domitian’s exchequer. He had 
increased the pay of the soldiers and embarked on a vast pro- 
gramme of public building at Rome, which exhausted his 
ordinary revenues. He rebuilt the Capitol, burnt down in the 
Civil Wars. He erected a temple to Jupiter Custos. According 
to Plutarch he spent twelve thousand talents, about £2,500,000, 
in gilding this temple. He built the forum of Nerva, and 
finished the Temple of the Divine Augustus, begun by Livia. 
He erected a Temple in honour of his father Vespasian, and his 
brother Titus, in the year 94, the columns of which still stand 
on a lofty platform. The Curia Julia which was damaged by 
fire in Nero’s time, he repaired. The arch of Titus was probably 
built by Domitian, as Titus is given on it the title of Divus, 
showing that he was dead. The huge Colosseum, begun by 
Vespasian in the year 72, was finished by Domitian. The 
Stadium of Domitian was another of his great works. The 
Palace of Domitian, one of the finest which covered the Palatine 
Hill, was begun by Vespasian and finished by Domitian. Its 
pavements were made of serpentine, porphyry, and other precious 
marbles. From the Triclinium opened out a Peristyle, covering 
an area of 3,600 square yards. Columns of porta-santa formed 
a colonnade around it; and the walls of black marble were so 
highly polished that they reflected objects, like a mirror. To 
complete these works, Suetonius tells us, estates of the living 
and the dead were seized upon, on any pretext. ‘‘ Above all 
others the Jews were miserably mauled by the confiscation of 
their estates.” Writing as an eye-witness, he says that rich 
Jews who endeavoured to save their monev by denying their 
faith were examined as to the evidence of circumcision, which 
settled the question for them. But the poorest Jews were not 
exempt. Domitian revived and rigorously enforced against all 
Jews the law of his father Vespasian, which diverted to the 
State Coffers, the ancient temple tribute of a didrachma, 
formerly sent by every adult Jew annually to Jerusalem. 
This tribute, about two shillings of our money, was exacted 
even from the poorest, with merciless rapacity. To this we 
will return. 

Some pretext was required for fleecing those Romans who 
were conspicuous by reason of their wealth. And here the 
accusation of following Jewish customs was made by informers, 
a class of people who made their living by this ancient form of 


HISTORIC NOTES 63 


black-mail. The accusation of Godlessness was brought against 
the Jews because they were monotheists, and would not worship 
the Gods of Rome. The same charge was brought against 
Christians. Some fifty years later, Justin Martyr, in his 
** Apologia,” wrote, ‘‘ They call us Atheists” (Apol. ii. 3). There 
is evidence that many cultured Romans in the first century 
were attracted by the monotheism of the Jews. In Nero’s time 
Queen Helena, of Adiabene, travelled from Assyria to Jerusalem 
to be instructed in the religion of the Jews. Josephus says 
that he wrote his ‘‘ Antiquities of the Jews” partly for the 
instruction of a noble Roman, Epaphroditas by name, who 
was inquiring into the religion and customs of the Jews (Pref. 
to Antiqs.). In the conclusion of his second book, ‘‘ Against 
Apion,” written after the death of Domitian, Josephus states, 


“ Nay further the multitude of mankind itself have had a great 
inclination, for a long time, to follow our religious observances; for 
there is not any city of the Grecians, nor any of the barbarians, nor 
any nation whatsoever, whither our custom of resting on the seventh 
day, has not come; and by which our fasts, and lighting up lamps, 
and many of our prohibitions as to our food, are not observed” 
(Sect. 40). 


These things were novelties and innovations in the eyes of 
Rome, and Roman families which adopted them were sufficiently 
guilty in the eyes of the Emperor, who was Pontifex Maximus, 
to deserve punishment. They formed an adequate pretext for 
extortion, confiscation of estates, and even death itself, in a 
season of despotic violence. Lying informers were at work, 
and many noble Roman families suffered in one or other of 
these ways. Wealthy Jews were despoiled of their property, 
and the tax-gatherers exacted the Temple tribute from Jews 
and Christians alike. Indeed the Christians of the lower 
classes were entirely at their mercy. They were for the most 
part freedmen and their families, or slaves. They rested on 
the Lord’s day, abstained from sacrificial meats, followed 
private forms of worship, and refused to worship the national 
Gods. Pagans by birth they appeared to be extreme Judaisers, 
and nothing could save them from plunder and even death 
itself but prompt apostasy. There is evidence in the Epistle 
of Pope Clement to the Corinthians, that a great many of them 
died for the faith. 

Judging from contemporary history, however, it does not 
appear that these accusations had anything to do with the 
wholesale slaughter of noble Romans which took place after 
the discovery of the conspiracy of Saturninus. Nor were 
they the result of a religious persecution aimed at Christians. 


64 THE REVELATION 


Dion Cassius agrees with Suetonius in fixing on Domitian a 
special animus against the Jews. 

Josephus, the historian of the Jews, then living at Rome, was 
one of the accused. He was a well-known Jew who had been 
general of the Jewish armies in Judza. Taken captive by Titus, 
he had rendered him certain services as an intermediary 
between the hostile armies. He had also predicted the eleva- 
tion of Vespasian to the purple. He was brought to Rome by 
Titus, and established as a guest in the suburbs. He was 
made a Roman citizen by Vespasian and received a pension 
from him and grants of land in Judea. He says that Domitian 
who succeeded (Titus) “still augmented his respects to me. 
For he punished those Jews that were my accusers ; and gave 
command that a servant of mine, who was a eunuch, and my 
accuser, should be punished. He also made that country I 
had in Judea, tax free” (Life of Flav Jos., Sect. 76). 

A fragment of Hegesippus, written about A.D. 150, preserved 
by Eusebius, seems to show that Domitian had no animus 
against Christians as such. It came to his knowledge that 
descendants of the Royal House of David were still living in 
Palestine. He sent for them. 


‘‘ He asked them whether they were of David’s race, and they 
confessed that they were. He then asked them what property they 
had, or how much money they owned. And both of them answered 
that they had between them only nine thousand denarii (about £400), 
and this not in silver but in the value of a piece of land, containing 
only thirty-nine acres, from which by their own labour, they 
supported themselves and paid taxes. Then they showed their 
hands, exhibiting their hard muscles and their horny hands, as 
evidence of toil. When asked also respecting Christ and his 
Kingdom, what was its nature and when and where it would appear ? 
They replied that it was not a temporal nor an earthly kingdom, but 
celestial and angelic. That it would appear at the end of the world, 
when coming in glory Christ would judge the living and the dead 
and give to every one according to his works. Upon which 
Domitian despising them, made no reply, but treating them with 
contempt as simpletons, commanded them to be dismissed, and by a 
decree ordered the persecutions to cease” (Euseb. H. E. iii. 20), 


Hegesippus apparently believed in a Domitian persecution of 
Christians. But these grand-children of S. Jude were con- 
fessed Christians. If their offence was Christianity and if 
Domitian was looking for Christian blood, the last thing one 
would expect him to do would be to dismiss them. But seeing 
that he could get no money out of them and that their claims 
to a throne were visionary, he sent them home. That was not 
the way of persecuting Emperors. It tallies very well how- 


HISTORIC NOTES 65 


éver with the other evidence before us that Domitian’s obses- 
sions were dynastic, anti-Jewish, and monetary, but not 
anti-Christian. Persecuting Emperors aimed at the total 
suppression of Christianity. And the more important the 
witnesses were, the more anxious were the Emperors to procure 
their conversion to pagan worship. The Christian descendants 
of the Royal House oF David would have been put to death ; 
but not till every means had been exhausted of persuading 
them by kindness or the reverse, to offer sacrifice to the Gods. 

Tertullian agrees with Hegesippus in saying that persecu- 
tion ceased before the end of Domitian’s reign. He says: 
“Domitian was in fact a limb of Nero, for cruelty. But I 
think because he had yet some remains of reason he very soon 
suppressed the persecution, even recalling those whom he had 
exiled’ (Euseb. H. E. iii. 20). Tertullian wrote at the end of 
the second century and beginning of the third. He followed 
Hegesippus. Eusebius, whose Ecclesiastical History was 
written about the beginning of the fourth century, quotes them 
both. It is probable that all these writers took their informa- 
tion from the Epistle of Clemens Romanus to be noticed 
presently. They supply no real evidence of persecution. 

The contemporary fristoriaris Tacitus and Suetonius who 
deal very fully with Domitian’s reign never once mention 
Christian persecution. And this is all the more remarkable as 
they were in no way withheld from doing so by any sentiment 
of shame, or other cause of reticence. Tacitus has left us a 
long and harrowing account of Nero’s persecution, which 
occurred in his youth. He wrote his “Annals”’ about the year 
115, long after the end of Domitian’s reign. In his account of 
Nero’s persecution, he shows a great antipathy to Christians ; 
but at the same time a strange want of familiarity with their 
creed. He calls the Christians of Nero’s persecution ‘‘ A race 
of men detested for their evil practices, commonly called 
Christians ” (Anls. xv. 44). He looks back upon the Christians 
as a sect of the past and not as one holding a position of 
interest, in the eye of the public of his own day. He was a 
keen historian of his own times. Yet he not only never men- 
tions Christian persecution in the reign of Domitian, but he 
writes of Christians as a curious and little known sect, in 
language which reminds one of Pliny the Younger’s letter ἰοὺ 
Trajan, to be noted presently. 

Suetonius in his “ Life of the Twelve Czsars,” says of Nero’s 
reign: “The Christians too were severely punished, a sort of 
people given up to a new and mischievous superstition.” But 
although he attended the Courts of Justice in Domitian’s reign 
and witnessed the fleecing of the Jews, he makes no mention of 

5 


66 THE REVELATION 


Christian persecution. His language about the Christians, too, 
has a curious ring of aloofness about it. 

When the stress of Domitian’s exactions fell upon the poorer 
classes, the popular sentiment of Rome turned against him. 
The outraged nobles took courage to protect themselves. 
Towards the end of the year 96, Domitian meditated a cruel 
act of treachery. He included his wife Domitia, Norbanus, his 
faithful general, Patronius Secundus and Parthanius, in what 
proved to be a final list of the proscribed. This came to the 
knowledge of Domitia and the others condemned with her. In 
consequence, Domitian was assassinated in his own room by 
Stephanus, a freedman of Flavius Clemens, on the 18th Sept., 
A.D. 96. Juvenal puts it on record, that “when the common 
people were assailed, Domitian who had slain so many nobles 
with impunity, was himself overthrown” (Sat. iv. 150). His 
edicts were repealed and his exiles recalled by his successor, 
Nerva (Suet. Dom. 17, Pliny Epist. iv. 22). 

We now come to the testimony of Clemens Romanus, post- 
poned to this point because it is not certain whether it was 
given before or after Domitian’s death. 

The only evidence we have of persecution in Domitian’s reign 
is found in the Epistle written by Clemens Romanus, Bishop 
of Rome, who is believed to have resided in the city in the 
period under review. He was the fourth Pope. 

He received a petition from the Church at Corinth, in the 
year 96, asking him to put a stop to dissensions which were 
injuring that Church. There is no mention of persecution at 
Corinth in his Epistle. When persecution falls, dissensions 
cease. Owing to the panic at Rome, there was a long delay in 
answering the Corinthians. Clemens accounted for the delay 
by referring to ‘‘ sudden and repeated calamities and reverses ”’ 
at Rome. He deals with the religious questions before him, 
and incidentally refers to the martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul, 
which he introduces thus, “ Let us come to those champions 
who lived very near our time. Let us set before us the noble 
examples which belong to,our generation.” After mentioning 
the deaths of the two great Apostles, he goes on to say, “ Unto 
these men of holy lives was gathered a vast multitude of the 
elect who through many indignities and tortures, being the 
victims of jealousy, set a brave example among ourselves.” 
This refers to Nero’s persecution. He continues: “ We are 
in the same lists, and the same contest awaits us.” These 
last words are taken to mean that Domitian was at that time 
persecuting the Church. 

Taken by itself, the Epistle of Clements to the Corinthians 
would lead to the conclusion that persecution had broken out 


HISTORIC NOTES 67 


or was expected at Rome. The Corinthians took that view and 
spread the alarm of persecution to the East. But taken in con- 
nection with what we know of Domitian’s reign, it is likely that 
Pope Clement anticipated persecution when the stress of Domi- 
tian’s exactions fell upon the lower orders of Rome, and poor 
Christians as well as Jews were tortured to death. Clement seems 
to have belonged to the class affected. ‘‘ Probably he was a 
freedman, or the son of a freedman of the Emperor’s household, 
which included thousands or tens of thousands” (Don. Chap- 
man, Encyc. Cath.). The date of this Epistle is very important. 
“It is now universally acknowledged, after Lightfoot, that it 
was written about the last year of Domitian (Harnack) ; or imme- 
diately after his death in 96 (Funk),” (Dom. Chapman, Encyc. 
Cath.). As Domitian died in September, 96, and his edicts 
were at once repealed, it may be assumed that the religious 
persecution which Clemens awaited, never came to pass. 

It will be noted that Clemens Romanus does not mention 
the names of Flavius Clemens or Acilius Glabrio, who have 
since been claimed as Christians. He goes back to the time of 
Nero to find examples of martyrdom in his own generation. 
He himself survived Domitian and lived till the third year of 
Trajan. It is evident therefore that such persecution as there 
was in his day, was not aimed at the chief witnesses to Chris- 
tianity, as in other persecutions. In the tranquil reign of 
Nerva, which followed that of Domitian, Clemens might have 
put on record the names of the more distinguished martyrs of 
his own time. But he did not doso. Neither in the martyr- 
ology of S. Jerome, nor in either of the Depositiones of the year 
354, do we find the name of Flavius Clemens, or any other 
Domitian martyr. On the whole, the evidence of Clemens 
Romanus, is against the view that Domitian directly persecuted 
the Church. 

A very important witness comes before us now, Pliny, the 
Younger, who lived through the Domitian reign of terror. He 
was an acute lawyer, famous as a pleader in the courts of the 
Centumviri, in the Julian basilica, in the Senate, and in public 
prosecutions. His abilities were recognised by frequent pro- 
motion. He was made a Senator in the year 82, Quaestor, 
in 89, Fribune in ΟἹ, and Pretor, by Domitian, in 93. In 94 
Domitian made him President of the Military Tribunal. He 
was at Rome, holding this official position, when Flavius 
Clemens and other great men were put to death. He was 
amongst the number of those who retired before the end of 
Domitian’s reign, to the obscurity of a country villa. Amongst 
the papers of the deceased Emperor, was found an information 
against Pliny, signed by Metus Carus, a noted informer. 


68 THE REVELATION 


Pliny and Tacitus were great friends. Helvedius, a friend of 
Tacitus, was put to death by Domitian on the accusation of 
Publicius Cortus, a very influential informer. After the 
accession of Nerva, Pliny resolved to avenge this outrage. He 
accused Publicius before the Senate and had him suspended 
from his office and deprived of further promotion. These 
incidents reveal the real character of Domitian’s persecution. 

In the year 100, Trajan made’ Pliny Consul, and eleven years 
later sent him to Bithynia as Governor of the Province. He 
found in Bithynia numerous persons calling themselves 
Christians, against whom accusations were laid by informers. 
As the accusation and crime of Christianity were new to him, he 
wrote the following letter to Trajan: 


' Sir, 

“It is my constant method to apply myself to you for the solution 
of all my doubts, for who can better reply to my hesitancy or instruct 
my ignorance. I have never been present at the examination of 
Christians; therefore I am ignorant of the nature and extent of the 
punishment due to them, and the judicial proceedings. Nor are my 
doubts small whether there be not a distinction to be made between 
the ages, and whether tender youth ought to have the same punish- 
ment with strong men? Whether there be not room for pardon on 
repentance? or whether it may not be an advantage to one that has 
been a Christian, that he has forsaken Christianity? Whether the 
bare name, without any crimes besides, or the crimes adhering to 
that name, be punishable? In the meantime I have taken this 
course about those who have been brought before me as Christians. 
I asked them whether they were Christians or not? If they confessed 
that they were Christians, I asked them again, and a third time, 
mingling threatenings with the questions. If they persevered in 
their confessions, I ordered them to be executed; for I did not doubt 
but, let their confession be of any sort whatever, their positiveness 
and inflexible obstinacy deserved to be punished. There have been 
some of this mad sect whom 1 took notice of in particular as Roman 
citizens, that they might be sent to that city. After some time, as 
is usual in such examinations, the crime spread itself, and many 
more cases came before me. An accusation was sent to me, though 
without an author, containing many names. These denied that they 
were Christians now, or ever had been. They called upon the Gods 
and supplicated to your image, which I caused to be brought to me 
for that purpose, with frankincense and wine; they also cursed 
Christ; none of which things, it is said, can any of those who are 
really Christians, be compelled to do; so I thought fit to let them 
go. Others of them that were named in the accusation said they 
were Christians, but presently denied it again; that indeed they had 
been Christians, but had ceased to be so, some three years, some 
many more; and one there was that said he had not been so these 
twenty years. All these worshipped your image and the images of 


HISTORIC NOTES 69 


our Gods; these also cursed Christ. However, they assured me that 
the main of their fault or of their mistake, was this: That they were 
wont on a stated day to meet together before it was light, and to 
sing a hymn to Christ, as to a God, alternately ; and to oblige them- 
selves by a sacrament not to do anything that was ill; but that they 
would commit no theft, or pilfering or adultery; that they would not 
break their promises, or deny what was deposited with them, when 
it was required back again; after which it was their custom to 
_ depart, and to meet again at a common but innocent meal, which 

they had left off upon that edict which I published at your command, 
wherein I had forbidden any such conventicles. These examinations 
made me think it, necessary to inquire by torment what the truth 
was; which I did of two servant maids, who were called Deaconesses : 
but still I discovered no more than that they were addicted to a bad 
and extravagant superstition. Hereupon I have put off my further 
examinations, and have recourse to you, for the affair seems to be 
well worth consultation, especially on account of the number of 
those that are in danger ; for there are many of every age and every 
rank and of both sexes, who are now and hereafter likely to be called 
to account and to bein danger. For this superstition is spread like 
a contagion, not only into cities and towns, but into country villages 
also, which yet there is reason to hope may be stopped and corrected. 
To be sure the temples which were almost forsaken begin already 
to be frequented, and the holy solemnities which were long inter- 
mitted, begin to be revived. The sacrifices begin to sell well every- 
where, of which very few purchasers had of late appeared: whereby 
it is easy to suppose how great a multitude of men may be amended 
if place for repentance be admitted.” 


The most important part of this letter from the point of view 
of our enquiry, lies in its opening sentences : 


“ Sollenne est mihi, Domine, omnia, de quibus dubito, ad te veferre. 
Quis enim potest melius vel cunctationem meam vegere, vel ignovantiam 
imstruere ἢ Cognitiontbus de Christianis interfus nunquam, idio nescio, quid 
et quatenus aut ῥηγὶ soleat, aut quaer.” 


It is probable that Pliny in his dealings with the Christians 
of Bithynia was acting under the authority of the institutes of 
Nero, still extant, against Christianity. But of recent proceed- 
ings against them, he was ignorant. Cognitiones was a legal 
term referring to proceedings before the Senate. On this letter 
Gibbon makes the following fair comment: 


“Pliny had never assisted at any judicial proceedings against the 
Christians, with whose name alone he seems to be acquainted; and 
he was totally uninformed with regard to the nature of their guilt, 
the method of their conviction and the degree of their punish- 
ment. ... We may assure ourselves that when he accepted the 
government of Bithynia there were no general laws or decrees of the 
Senate in force against Christians . . . and that whatever proceed- 


70 THE REVELATION 


ings had been carried on against Christians, there were none of 
sufficient weight and authority to establish a precedent for the 
conduct of a Roman magistrate” (D. and F., I. xvi.). 


We may go beyond that and say that Pliny could not have 
written this letter if Domitian’s outbreak had been directed 
against Christians in the way of religious persecution. He was an 
able lawyer and had been appointed Preetor, or Chief Magistrate 
of Rome by Domitian. He was present there when Flavius 
Clemens, and the other victims of Domitian’s fury were slain. 
If their crime had been the profession of Christianity, Pliny 
would have known all about the nature of the crime, the legal 
proceedings in connection with it, and its punishments. His 
ignorance of these matters is clear proof that Domitian’s 
persecutions were not levelled at Christianity. 

Trajan’s answer to Pliny’s enquiry discloses the fact that no 
fixed laws were at that time in existence against Christians, 
Trajan wrote: 


* My Puiny, 

“You have taken the method which you ought in examining the 
causes of those that had been accused as Christians, for indeed no 
certain and general form of judging can be ordained in this case. 
These people are not to be sought for; but if they be accused and 
convicted, they are to be punished; but with this caution, that he 
who denies himself to be a Christian and makes it plain that he is 
not one, by supplicating to our Gods, although he had been so 
formerly, may be allowed pardon on his repentance. As for 
anonymous informations, they ought to have no place in any 
accusation whatever, for that would be a thing of very ill example, 
and not agreeable to my reign.”’ 


This rescript of Trajan’s became the law as affecting 
Christians until the time of Marcus Aurelius, who was an active 
persecutor of the Church. 

Neither in Greece, nor in Bithynia, do we find a trace of 
Domitian’s persecution. In the reign of Marcus Aurelius, 
161-180 A.D., when Servilius Paulus was Proconsul of Asia, 
Melito, Bishop of Sardis, wrote to the Emperor a letter 
(referred to by Eusebius in H. E. iv. 26) protesting against the 
severe persecution ravaging Asia. His Asia comprised the 
great cities of Asia Minor, Ephesus, Pergamos, and the rest, in 
which group Sardis was situated. 

Writing officially to the Emperor Aurelius, who had enacted 
fresh laws against the Church, he denies that there had been 
any persecutions in Hellenised Asia, before his time. Aufelius 
had the official records of previous reigns in his possession. But, 
apparently, there was no record of persecution in Asia Minor, 


HISTORIC NOTES 71 


In recent years Roman Archeology has thrown some 
fresh light on Domitian’s persecution. The cemetery of 
Domitilla, one of the largest and oldest of the Roman Cata- 
combs, still stands visible on the Via Ardeatina. Its spacious 
vestibule and wide halls show the wealth of its owners. As 
Northcote and Brownlow remark, ‘It shows the sense of 
liberty and security under which it was erected” (I. 126). 

It may have been built by Domitilla on her release and 
return from Pandataria, in the reign of Nerva, to contain the 
remains of Flavius Clemens. It bears her name. De Rossi 
and others have thoroughly investigated the contents of this 
Catacomb. There is nothing in it to recall the Domitian perse- 
cution. On the contrary it appears that it was called for many 
years the cemetery of Nereus and Achilles, in honour of the 
first martyrs who were buried in it. These two men were not 
Domitian martyrs. They were servants of Domitilla, who 
were put to death in Trajan’s reign. 

We have seen that there is no record of Domitian’s perse- 
cution in the early martyrologies. The catacombs of Rome 
tell the same tale. Acilius Glabrio, the supposed Christian, 
is said to be interred in the Catacomb of S. Priscilla, on the 
Via Salaria. De Rossi found there, the place of interment of the 
_ line of the Acilii. It included “not only consuls and magistrates 
of the highest order, but also priests and priestesses, and even 
children, who were members of the idolatrous college, to which 
only patricians and their sons were privileged to belong (Allard, 
Ten Lectures, p. 191). There was no evidence there of Glabrio’s 
Christianity. In the cemetery of S. Nicomedes on the Via 
Nomentana there is the loculus of the saint, said to be a 
Domitian martyr, by Alban Butler, who refers us to the Acts 
of SS. Nereus and Achilleus, Trajan’s martyrs. 

The fact is the Domitian martyrs were poor men, who were 
buried without ceremony, anywhere. There was no reason for 
concealment. The bodies of martyrs were given up to their 
friends and they could bury them or burn them, as they chose. 
The slaves and freedmen of Domitian’s day, reaped the laurels 
of Domitian’s persecution. But few men besides the martyrs 
themselves and Clemens Romanus, Bishop of Rome, thought 
that there was a persecution. 

There is nothing in this history to justify the conclusion that 
S. John was exiled to Patmos in Domitian’s reign. 

Nerva, who succeeded Domitian, repealed his edicts. He 
reigned but a few months and passed the sceptre on to his 
adopted son Trajan. Trajan permitted rather than encouraged 
persecution. He was involved in Parthian wars which have 
been described as brilliant failures. A revolt of the Jews at this 


72 THE REVELATION 


period, characterised by brutal massacres in Cyprus, where 
240,000 men are said to have been put to death, led to retalia- 
tory massacres, in which large numbers of Jews perished. 
Trajan was followed by Hadrian, 117-138 A.D.’ His extermina- 
ting war on the Jews has been related. He was followed by 
Antoninus Pius (138-161 A.D.) who took the part of the persecuted 
Christians. 

It is possible that persecutions of a sporadic and local kind 
took place from time to time, after the reign of Trajan, whose 
rescript remained in force. 

Marcus Aurelius succeeded Antoninus (160-180 A.D.). He 
is said to be the author of the fourth persecution. In the year 
174, his army, caught in the passes of the Bohemian mountains, 
was saved from dying of heat and thirst by the prayers of the 
twelfth legion composed of Christians. A severe thunderstorm 
brought coolness and water to the Romans and dismayed the 
enemy, who were beaten. The twelfth got the name of the 
“thundering legion.” Dion Cassius mentions this event and it 
is recorded on the Antonine pillar at Rome. It put a stop to 
persecution for a time. The next Emperor to claim attention is 
Septimus Severus (193-211), author of the fifth persecution. 
In the year 202 he issued a new edict against Christians, who 
were very severely persecuted, especially in Africa. Christianity 
had spread so greatly at that time that Tertullian could write 
to the Emperor, ‘ We fill your cities, your towns, your Senate, 
and your armies ; we leave you only your temples and theatres.” 
Caracalla and Heliogabalus, who followed Septimus (a.D. 211- 
222) disgraced the throne and empire. They were murdered— 
the usual fate of the Czsars. Alexander Severus, who followed 
(222-235) saw the rise of Persia and the fall of Parthia. He 
in his turn was murdered. Maximin came next (235-238) the 
author of the sixth persecution. Maximin’s persecution was 
directed against the leaders of the Church, those who “ taught” 
and “‘ governed” it. He was murdered by his soldiers and his 
body given to the vultures. Gordian and Philip followed. The 
latter was slain by Decius. At the end of Philip’s reign there 
was a sporadic outburst of persecution at Alexandria. Decius, 
General of the revolted troops, reigned next, A.D. 249-251. 
He was the author of the seventh persecution. The Rev. Patrick 
Healy in the “ Catholic Encyclopedia ” says of this persecution, 


“The object of the Emperor was not the extermination of the 
Christians but the complete extinction of Christianity itself. Bishops 
and priests were unconditionally punished with death. To all others 
was given an opportunity to recant . . . the unexpectedness of the 
attack, coupled with the fact that an appalling amount of laxity and 
corruption had manifested themselves during the long peace which 


HISTORIC NOTES 73 


the Church had just enjoyed, produced the most deplorable effect in 
the Christian fold. Multitudes presented themselves to the magis- 
trates to express their compliance with the imperial edict, and to 
these apostates, tickets were issued attesting the fact that they had 
offered sacrifice (sacvificati), or burned incense (thurificati), while 
others without actually performing these rites, availed themselves of 
the venality of the magistrates to purchase certificates attesting their 
renunciation (libellatic:). ... The Decian persecution was the 
severest trial to which the Church at large had been subjected up to 
‘that time and the loss suffered by the Church in consequence of 
apostasy was almost as great as the loss by martyrdom ”’ (Decius). 


There is a direct reference to Apostasy in the Apoca- 
lyptic vision of Christian persecutions. “And the stars from 
heaven fell upon the earth, as the fig tree casteth its green 
figs when it is shaken by a great wind” (R. vi. 13). The 
Decian persecution was followed by a severe pestilence which 
devastated the empire. It is described by Dionysius of 
Alexandria. 

The Goths invaded the Empire twice in the reign of Decius, 
inflicting great losses. On thesecond invasion the camp of the 
Romans was surprised, and pillaged,and the Emperor fled in 
disorder. Later in the same war the Roman army was 
manceuvred into a bog. ‘In this morass the Roman army, 
after an ineffectual struggle, was irrecoverably lost, nor could 
the body of the Emperor [Decius] ever be found” (Ὁ. and F., 
I. x.). Decius perished A.D. 251. 

“This is the first considerable occasion in which history 
mentions that great people who afterwards broke the Roman 
power, sacked the capital and reigned in Gaul, Spain, and Italy ” 
(Gibbon, of. cit.). 

Gallus who succeeded Decius, continued the persecution. He 
perished miserably after a reign of eighteen months. A®milian 
who followed reigned only four months. Then came Valerian 
(253-260 A.D.) author of the eighth persecution. At first 
Bishops of the Church were banished. St. Cyprian, who was 
banished to Curubis wrote to nine other bishops who were 
working in the mines of Noumedia, and sent them money. 
Dionysius of Alexandria was banished to Kephro in Libya 
Nomos. As illustrating the conditions of banishment at that. 
time, we may relate what happened to him. 


“ 7Emilianus the prefect said, ‘I perceive that you are at the same 
time ungrateful and insensible to the clemency of our Cesars. 
Therefore you shall not remain in this city, but you shall be sent to 
the parts of Libya, to a place called Kephro. For this place I have 
selected according to the orders of our Cesars. But neither you, 


74 THE REVELATION 


nor any others, shall in any wise be permitted either to hold 
conventions or to enter what you call your cemeteries’” (Euseb. 
H. E. vii. 11). 

Dionysius goes on to say that when he reached his place of 
banishment, 

“But neither did we keep aloof from assembling ourselves by 
divine assistance., .. Butin Kephroa large congregation collected 
with us, partly of the brethren that accompanied us from the city, 
partly of those that joined us from Egypt, and thus God opened a 
door for the word likewise there. And at first, indeed, we were 
persecuted, we were stoned; but, at last, not a few of the heathen, 
abandoning their idols, turned to God, for the word was then first 
sown among them, as they had never before heard it” (Euseb. 
H. E. vii. 11). 


From Kephro, Dionysius was moved on to Colluthion, in the 
Mareotis in lower Egypt. Hedid not like the change at first, but 
consoled himself with the thought that as it was nearer to 
Alexandria “ we should more frequently enjoy the sight of those 
that were really beloved and most dear to us. For they 
would come and would tarry, and as if in the more remote 
suburbs, there would be still meetings in parts. And so it was” 
(Euseb. H. E. vii. 11). 

By Valerian’s orders, Zmelianus prohibited the use of 
“what you call your cemeteries.” In the sure hope and belief 
in the Resurrection, Christians called their burial places, 
κοιμήτηρια, the Greek word for dormitory, signifying “ sleeping 
places.”” The metaphor of ‘the open door” for the Church, 
will engage our attention in the Commentary on Philadelphia 
(R. iii. 8). 

In the year 258 a sharper edict was issued by Valerian con- 
demning bishops, priests, and deacons to death by the sword ; 
senators and knights were to forfeit their property, and the 
rank and file, if still obstinate, were to be condemned to death. 
Women of rank were banished. St. Cyprian and St. Lawrence 
perished in this persecution, S. Cyprian by the sword. It 
appears from the acts of the martyrs that they were implored to 
change their religion, and could have saved their lives by doing 
so. Valerian was defeated and taken prisoner by the Persians, 
whose king, Sapor, used him as a footstool in mounting his 
horse, and forced him to run by his side in chains. When 
Valerian died his body was flayed, and his skin, stuffed and 
painted red, was hung up in a Persian temple, to the lasting 
disgrace of the Roman Empire. 

Gallianus ‘succeeded his father as emperor. He published 
edicts of toleration of Christianity, and restored their cemeteries 
to the Christians (Euseb. H, E. vii. 13). Persians and Goths 


HISTORIC NOTES 75 


invaded and devastated the Roman empire in his day, and 
earthquakes, famine and pestilence added to the misery of the 
Roman people. In Rome alone, the plague for a time carried 
off 5,000 persons a day. Gallianus was killed by his officers, 
A.D. 268. 

Claudius who followed was occupied during his short reign— 
268-270 A.D.—repelling an army of 320,000 Goths, who invaded 
Macedonia. There were persecutions during his reign, of a 
sporadic kind. Claudius died of the plague. 

Aurelian, a great general, then came to the throne, A.D. 270. 
He was the author of the ninth persecution, At first he pro- 
tected the Christians. He decided that the Church buildings at 
Antioch should belong to those Christians who were in union 
with the bishops of Italy and of the city of Rome. ‘Towards 
the end of his reign A.D. 275, he issued persecuting edicts. 
Lactantius says that these edicts had not reached the remoter 
provinces before his death, which took place the same year. 
** Tradition refers to his reign a large number of Acta Martyrum, 
none of which is considered to be authentic (Dom Butler, 
““ Journal of Theological Studies,” 1906, vii., 306).” 

Tacitus (275-276), and Probus (276-282) followed Aurelian. 

There was no persecution in their reigns. They were both 
killed by their own troops. 
. Diocletian came to the throne, A.D. 284, and associated with 
himself as Cesar and Governor of the East, Galerius, a man 
intensely prejudiced against Christianity. In the year 303, at 
the instigation of Galerius, persecution was decreed. Maximian, 
Governor of the West, joined heartily in this persecution, which 
was almost universal in extent and as cruel as Nero’s in severity. 
Churches were pulled down, the Holy Scriptures were sought 
out and burnt, and men and women put to death by torture. 
Lactantius says, “all the earth, from East to West, was 
drenched in blood.” S. Alban, a citizen of Verulam, perished 
at this time. The persecutors boasted that they had abolished 
Christianity. But inthe year 305, both Diocletian and Maximian 
were dethroned by Galerius. They both died miserably. 
Galerius repealed the persecuting edicts in April 311, and died 
a few days afterwards of a gangrenous ulcer of the abdomen. 
Eusebius, who witnessed the tenth persecution, says, 


“ But when by reason of excessive liberty we sank into negligence 
and ‘sloth, one envying and reviling another in different ways, and 
were almost as it were on the point of taking up arms against each 
other, and were assailing each other with words as with darts and 
spears, prelates inveighing against prelates, and people rising up 
against people, and hypocrisy and dissimulation had arisen to the 


76 THE REVELATION 


greatest height of malignity, then the divine judgment which usually 
proceeds with a lenient hand, whilst the multitudes were yet crowd- 
ing into the church, with gentle and mild visitation began to afflict 
the episcopate. ... But some that appeared to be our pastors, 
deserting the law of piety, were inflamed against each other with 
mutual strifes, only accumulating quarrels and threats, rivalship 
hostility and hatred to each other, only anxious to assert the 
government as a kind of sovereignty for themselves” (H. Ἐ, viii. 1). 


Stripped of its paraphrase Eusebius says that hierarchical 
pride brought the Church to grief. He gives a long account of 
the tenth persecution in his “ Ecclesiastical History.’ ‘“ Vast 
numbers, however,”’ he says, ‘‘ broken and relaxed in spirit by 
timidity before the contest, voluntarily yielded at the first 
onset” (H. E. viii. 3). 

When Constantius Chlorus died at York in the year 306, his 
son, Constantine the Great, was proclaimed Cesar by the 
northern troops. 

At this time the Empire was divided into three parts, the 
better to defend it against the constant incursions of the bar- 
barians (R. xvi. 19). Licinius reigned in the East, Maxentius 
at Rome and Italy, and Constantine in the West. Maxentius 
declared war on Constantine. In this war (A.D. 312) Constantine 
is said to have invoked the aid of Christ, and to have carried 
His emblem, the cross, at the head of his troops. Gibbon says: 


“The learned Eusebius has ascribed the faith of Constantine to 
the miraculous sign which was displayed in the heavens whilst he 
meditated and prepared the Italian expedition.” 

“The same symbols sanctified the arms of the soldiers of 
Constantine; the cross glittered on their helmet, was engraved on 
their shields, was interwoven into their banners. . . .” 

“ But the principal standard, which displayed the triumph of the 
cross, was styled the Labarum. It is described as a long pike 
intersected by a transverse beam. The silken veil which hung 
down from the beam was curiously enwrought with the images of 
the reigning monarch and his children. The summit of the pike 
supported a crown of gold, which enclosed the mysterious monogram, 
at once expressive of the figure of the cross, and the initial letters of 
the name of Christ” (D. and F., cap. xx.—from Eusebius in Vit. 
Constantine, and Baronius’ Eccles. Annals). 


There is still extant a medal of the Emperor Constantius, 
whereon the standard of the labarum is accompanied by these 
memorable words: ‘“‘ By this sign thou shalt conquer.” 

Constantine defeated Maxentius, with great slaughter of the 
Italian legions, in the Roman province. Finally, in the attack 
on Rome itself, “the dismayed troops of Maxentius, pursued by 
an implacable enemy, rushed by thousands into the deep and 


HISTORIC NOTES 77 


rapid stream of the Tiber. The Emperor Maxentius himself 
was forced into the river and drowned by the weight of his 
armour ”’—A.D. 312—(Gib. of. cit. xili.). 

Constantine immediately suspended or repealed the edicts 
of persecution, and granted the free exercise of their religious 
ceremonies to all professed members of the Christian Church. 
(The Edict of Milan.) The Roman world was now divided 
between Constantine in the West and Licinius in the East; and 
in a few months they were fighting many bloody battles for 
supremacy, in which’ Constantine was the gainer. Constantine 
founded a new Rome on the Bosphorus. He gave it his own 
name, Constantinople, and removed the seat of government 
there in 330. This was a great blow to pagan Rome and the 
Senate. 

It would be a mistake to suppose that by the Edict of Milan, 
published jointly by Constantine and Licinius in the year 313, 
the old forms oF paganism were disestablished and disendowed. 
Much more so to conclude that Christianity was compulsorily 
imposed upon the Roman people. The edict itself, an edict of 
tolerance, refers to the deity enthroned in heaven. Constantine 
aimed at monotheism; but identified the deity with the Sun- 
God. He abolished all forms of divination and magic, but 
retained the office of Pontifex Maximus, and shortly before his 
death confirmed the privileges of the priests of the ancient gods. 
He allowed such expressions as “the divine emperor,” “the 
altar of the emperor,” and “the sacred chamber,” although he 
withdrew his statue from the temples. The Hierarchy, the 
Senate, and the Roman people, clung to paganism for another 
hundred years. In the year 394 Theodosius closed the gates 
of the Temple of Vesta and extinguished the sacred fire, 
thus ending the worship of Vesta. S. Leo the Great, who 
turned aside the wrath of Attila A.D. 451, says that it was the 
custom of many Christians in his day to worship the sun by 
obeisance and prayers from the steps of S. Peter’s at Rome 
(Leo I., Serm. xxvVi.). 

At the death of Constantine his three sons, Constantine, 
Constantius, and Constans, divided the kingdom into three 
parts. Constantine attacked Constans, and was slain. Constans 
was assassinated by Magnentius, who in his turn was defeate 
by Constantius. 

Constantius defeated the Germans at the battle of Mursa. 
In this Pyrrhic victory the Romans lost the equivalent of a 
whole army—50,000 men—A.D. 353. 

Constantius was succeeded by his cousin, Julian, known to 
history as the Apostate. He reopened the pagan temples, and 
even attempted to restore the Temple of Jerusalem. But it is 


ε« 


78 THE REVELATION 


said that the builders were repeatedly foiled by earthquakes, 
volcanic eruptions, and whirlwinds. The attempt was aban- 
doned. Julian perished in the Persian war, A.p. 363. The 
brothers Valentian and Valens came to the throne in 364, 
governing the West and East respectively. In their reign the 
Goths, under Hermanius, King of the Ostrogoths, to the 
number of 200,000, were forced across the Danube by the 
pressure of the Huns, Tartar and Scythian hordes, from beyond 
the great wall of China. They settled in the Roman provinces 
with the consent of Valens, but revolted,-and slew him at the 
battle of Adrianople (A.D. 378), in which engagement 40,000 
Romans were slain. Gibbon calls this “the disastrous period 
of the fall of the Roman Empire, which may justly be dated 
from the reign of Valens” (D. and F., c. xxvi.). 

At one and the same time the Suevi, Alani, and Franks 
invaded Gaul, and the Persians overflowed the Euphrates. 
In the second year of this reign the greater part of the Roman 
world was shaken by a violent and destructive earthquake. 
Then followed the reigns of Gratian, Valentian II., and 
Theodosius (A.D. 379-395), filled with domestic and foreign 
wars. 

Theodosius was the last Emperor who saw all the Roman 
provinces united under one sovereign. His seat of empire was 
Constantinople. The fifth century saw the downfall of Rome 
itself, through the invasion of barbarian hordes. Two numerous 
armies of Goths, under Alaric, crossed the Julian Alps, and 
conquered the provinces of Istria and Venetia. Alaric was 
defeated in 402, but returned in 410, when he took Rome, and 
delivered it to the fury of his soldiers. ‘‘ Now the long-haired 
Goths, with Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, and Alani marched 
from the shores of the Baltic almost to the gates of Rome, and 
never afterwards retreated. This may be considered as the fall 
of the Roman Empire beyond the Alps” (D. and F., cap. xxx.). 

The siege of Rome by Alaric, in the reign of Honorius, gave 
rise to a famine, which 15 described by Gibbon: 


“The unfortunate city gradually experienced the distress of 
scarcity, and at length the horrid calamities of famine. The daily 
allowance of three pounds of bread was reduced to one half, to one 
third, to nothing; and the price of corn still continued to rise in a 
rapid and extravagant proportion. The poorer citizens, who were . 
unable to purchase the necessaries of life, solicited the precarious 
charity of the rich... . The progress of famine invaded the marble 
palaces of the senators themselves.... The food, the most 
repugnant to sense or imagination; the aliments, the most unwhole- 
some and pernicious to the constitution, were eagerly devoured and 
fiercely disputed, by the rage of hunger. A dark suspicion was 


HISTORIC NOTES 79 


entertained that some desperate wretches fed on the bodies of their 
fellow-creatures whom they had secretly murdered; and even 
mothers (such was the horrid conflict of the two most powerful 
instincts implanted by nature in the human breast)—even mothers 
are said to have tasted the flesh of their slaughtered infants. Many 
thousands of the inhabitants of Rome expired in their houses or in 
the streets for want of sustenance; and as the public sepulchres 
without the walls were in the power of the enemy, the stench which 
arose from so many putrid and unburied carcasses infected the air ; 
and the miseries of famine were succeeded and aggravated by the 
contagion of a pestilential disease” (D. and F., xxxi.). 


In the meanwhile the Suevi, Alani, and Vandals fought their 
way through Gaul and Spain, where they settled, in 409—the 
Suevi in the north, the Alani in the west, and the Vandals in 
the south. The Goths settled down in the provinces close to 
the Pyrenees. These petty kings, who held their places and 
power with the consent of Rome, often subsequently joined the 
Romans in their wars (see R. xvii. 12-16). Boniface invited 
the Vandals into Africa to aid him with their army. The 
Vandals finally settled there, A.D. 432. 

In the year 451 Attila, King of the Huns, invaded the western 
provinces with an army of 500,000 men, who had not long 
before invaded and plundered the eastern provinces. The 
Romans, calling the Goths, Franks, and other kings to their 
aid, met and stopped him on the plains of Chalons: 180,000, 
some say 300,000, dead bodies were left on the field. The 
following year (452) Attila again invaded Italy, plundering and 
laying waste all the Roman cities on his line of march, and 
reducing them to ruins. The battle of Chalons seems to have 
been prefigured in the great battle described in chapter xix. of 
the Apocalypse, the battle of Armagedon. 

In the year 455, the Romans being at civil war, Eudoxia, 
widow of the murdered Valentinian, called to her aid the 
Vandals from Africa. They came across in fleets, under 
Genseric, and captured Rome, which was given up to pillage 
for fourteen days and nights; but the principal buildings, and 
the lives of the citizens, were spared, at the prayer of Pope 
St. Leo. The Vandals, under Genseric, stretched from Tangier 
to Tripoli. Their fleets at Carthage claimed the empire of the 
Mediterranean. In the spring of each year they returned to 
the pillage of Italy, sometimes crossing the Straits of Gibraltar, 
and invading Italy from the west. The treasures and spoils of 
Rome were transferred to Carthage. 

In the year 476 Odoacer, King of the Heruli, conquered 
Italy, and captured Rome. He pensioned off Romulus Augus- 
tulus, the last of the emperors of the west, and proclaimed 


80 THE REVELATION 


himself King of Italy. So ended the last of the Romar 
emperors. The dynasty of “the beast” came to an end with 
Romulus Augustulus, two names which stand for the City and 
Empire of Rome! 


“ T have now accomplished the laborious narrative of the decline 
and fall of the Roman Empire, from the fortunate age of Trajan 
and the Antonines to its total extinction in the west, about five 
centuries after the Christian era” (Gibbon, op, cit. cap. xxxviii.). 


In the year 489 Theodoric of the East Goths, or Ostrogoths, 
invaded Italy, and added it to his dominions. He reigned 
A.D. 493-526. Totila, one of his successors, completed the ruin 
of Rome in 546. The Roman citizens again suffered the terrible 
agonies of famine during the siege of Rome by Totila. He 
ground it down under the iron heel of despotism, and left no 
spark of life in it. 


“‘ After a period of thirteen centuries the institution of Romulus 
expired; and if the nobles of Rome still assumed the titles of 
senators, few subsequent traces can be discovered of a public 
council or constitutional order” (4.p. 553). (Gibbon.) 


We have now seen the end of the Roman Empire (A.D. 476) 
and of the proud city of Rome (A.D. 546). It is very important 
that we should bear these dates in mind, for they fix the period 
of the end of the “ Roman theme” in the Apocalypse, the fall 
of “ Babylon,” and the beginning of the “ millennium” which 
followed. 

Gibbon in his “ Decline and Fall” shows that all the 
barbarian tribes which marched across the stage of his history 
at first in conflict with Rome, were afterwards used as allies. 
They fought in the Roman ranks, from time to time, against 
each other, and helped to prop the tottering power of Rome, 
whose motto was divide et impera. But they almost all settled 
down in the long run on Roman soil and built up kingdoms for 
themselves upon her ruins. The Visigoths settled in Spain, 
the Goths and Ostrogoths in Gaul and Italy, the Alani in Gaul, 
the Burgundians in Burgundy, the Armoricans in Brittany, the 
Franks on the Rhine, the Thuringians and Suevi in Germany, 
the Saxons in Britain, the Huns in Thrace, and the Vandals 
in Carthage. These things are foretold in the Revelation of 
S. John. An angel declares—“ And the ten horns which thou 
sawest are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, 
but shall receive power as kings one hour after the beast. 
These have one design, and their strength and power they 
shall deliver to the beast. .. . And the ten horns which thou 
sawest on the beast, these shall hate the harlot (Rome), and 
shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh and 


HISTORIC NOTES 81 


shall burn her with fire. For God hath given into their hearts to 
do that which pleaseth him, that they give their kingdom to the 
beast until the words of God be fulfilled ” (R. xvii. 12, 13, 16, 17). 

We can see now how impossible it would be to explain in 
the first century such matters as the rise of kingdoms then 
unknown. This part of Revelation must have been an enigma 
to all, down to the middle ages. In the meantime the exegetical 
efforts of the ancients had crystallised into a tradition concern- 
ing Antichrist, which claimed assent by reason of its antiquity. 

The transfer of the seat of Empire from Rome to Con- 
stantinople brought about a train of ecclesiastical events which 
enters into the study of Revelation. Constantinople was 
solemnly proclaimed the capital of the Roman Empire by 
Constantine in the year 330. He endowed it with magnificent 
buildings which he embellished with treasures taken from the 
rest of the Empire. It was his idea that “ New Rome” should 
be the seat of the civil and ecclesiastical governments of the 
Empire. Although Antioch succeeded Jerusalem in the Primacy 
of the East, we find Eudoxius, Bishop of Antioch in 360, leaving 
his see for that of Constantinople. The second C2cumenical 
Council, A.D. 381, gave the Bishop of Constantinople first place, 
after Rome. Constantinople claimed primacy over the Churches 
of the East, and by the Council of Chalcedon, A.p. 451, it was 
allowed the primacy over 420 dioceses. Constantinople was in 
constant conflict with Rome, and was in fact setting itself up 
as an autonomous and rival Church, as it is now. 

Jesus Christ, in the book of Revelation, addressing the angel 
or supreme Bishop of the Church in the third era of its exist- 
ence, called by the name of Pergamos, says, “1 know where 
thou dwellest, where the seat of Satan is, and thou holdest fast 
my name and hast not denied my faith” (R. ii. 13). Fore- 
seeing the event our Lord declares Rome to be the seat of the 
head of His Church in the third age which extended from the 
Edict of Milan, 312, to the sixth century. Rome held fast to the 
name and faith of Jesus Christ, which were assailed in this age 
by many heresies, for the most part bred in the Sees under Con- 
stantinople. The Arian heresy, which denied that Christ was 
co-equal and co-eternal with the Father, devastated the Church 
of the fourth century. Constantine, towards the close of his. 
reign, his son Constantius, and other Roman emperors favoured 
Arianism. 

The Arian heresy was condemned at the Council of Nicza, 
A.D. 325. The Macedonian heresy, which impugned the divinity 
of the Holy Ghost, was broached by Macedonius, Bishop of 
Constantinople, A.D. 360. The Pelagian heresy regarding grace 


and original sin appeared about the year 400 A.D. Later 
6 


82 THE REVELATION 


(A.D. 420) Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, taught that the 
Blessed Virgin was not the mother of God, but of the man 
Christ. Later again (A.D. 440) Eutyches, the superior of a . 
monastery near Constantinople, taught that there was only one 
nature in Christ. These were the great heresies which tor- 
mented the early Church, and often led to persecution and 
bloodshed. They came to an end in the beginning of the sixth 
century, perishing with the fall of the Empire and of pagan 

Rome. 

The political forecast of Revelation stops at the destruction 
of the city of pagan Rome. 

From the sixth century onward to the sixteenth the Revela- 
tion predicts a period of a thousand years in which Satan will 
be chained up, as regards bloody persecution of the Church. 
At the end of that period it is predicted that he will be loosed 
again for a short time. These things, in point of fact, have 
happened. The Revelation further predicts that in the last 
days Satan will seduce the nations, and they will go up and 
surround “the Camp of the Saints,” 1.6., Rome, and “the 
beloved city,” the Civitas Dei, of S. Augustine, ze. the 
Church. And after these happenings the day of judgment will 
appear. 

Pre we depended solely upon the close of the Book of Revela- 
tion for eschatological knowledge, we might well expect the 
end to come quickly, for the “ Camp of the Saints,” Rome, is 
surrounded, and the Church is attacked on all sides. But in 
the Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, we get further 
information as to the last days. We are told that three 
ages intervene between the millennium and the end of the 
world. The penultimate age of the Church (in which we live) 
will be characterised by a remarkable series of conversions to 
the Church, especially of the clergy of its erstwhile persecutors. 
We are told also that the last age of the Church will be 
characterised by extreme indifference; that it will be wanting 
both in the fear and love of the Lord. 

Opinions will probably differ as to whether the Church at 
present exhibits these characteristics of the last age or not. 


᾽ 


ν 


IV 
THE DATE OF REVELATION 


THE date of the Book of Revelation is of paramount import- 
ance as regards its exegesis. The great majority of modern 


scholars of every shade of religion, and of unbelief, adopt an 


early date for the Apocalypse, 1.6., before the fall of the Temple. 
Catholic writers, almost alone, support the theory that the Book 
was written in Domitian’s reign. This is all the more surpris- 
ing as the Book is full of dogmatic Christian teaching, which 
gains in authority as it approximates to the time of Christ. 
Nearly the whole of the Apostles’ Creed is contained in the 
Book of Revelation, including the Communion of Saints. It is 
the only case in which the higher critics insist on an earlier 
date than that claimed by Catholic Churchmen. A correct 
view of the date of the Book is essential to its interpretation 
and to the appreciation of its eschatological teaching. 

Dr. Barry, in his manual for priests and students, on The 
Tradition of Scripture, published in the year 1906, says: ‘No 
view of the date, compilation, or literal meaning [of the 
Apocalypse] has ever been sanctioned by authority ”’ (p. 198). 

The present Holy Father, Pius X, in his letter to Bishop Le 
Camus, dated 1906, adverts to Scriptural exegesis, as follows. 


**As we must condemn the temerity of those who, having more 
regard for novelty than for the teaching authority of the Church, do 
not hesitate to adopt a method of criticism altogether too free, so we 
should not approve the attitude of those who in no way dare to 
depart from the usual exegesis of Scripture, even when, faith not 
being at stake, the real advancement of learning requires such 
departure. You follow a wise course, and show by your example 
that there is nothing to be feared for the sacred books from the true. 
progress of the art of criticism; nay, that a beneficial light can be 
derived from it, provided its use be coupled with a wise and prudent 
discernment” (Sept. 29, 1906). 


The road is left open for reconsideration and research. 
Catholic writers cling to the Domitian date of the Book as a 
matter of tradition. Let us examine this tradition carefully, 

. 83 


84 THE REVELATION 


and compare it with other traditions. The Domitian date of 
Revelation rests entirely on a casual remark of S. Irenzus, 
Bishop of Lyons, who was born in Asia Minor of Grecian 
parents “ between the years 115 and 125, according to some, or 
according to others, between 130 and 142.” In the year 190 
or ΙΟῚ, he interceded with Pope Victor on behalf of “com- 
munities in Asia Minor which persevered in the practice of 
the Quarto-decimans in regard to the celebration of Easter.” 
‘“ Nothing is known as to the date of his death, which must 
have occurred at the end of the second or beginning of the third 
century. In spite of some isolated and later testimony to that 
effect, it is not very probable that he ended his career with 
martyrdom” (A. Poncelet, 5. J. Cath. Encyc.). S. Irenzus’ 
occasional lapses into casual writing detract somewhat from 
his authority as a chronicler of historic facts. For example, 
in his third book he says: 


“ And Polycarp, a man who had been instructed by the Apostles 
and had familiar intercourse with many that had seen Christ, and 
had also been appointed Bishop by the Apostles in Asia, in the 
Church at Smyrna, whom we also have seen in our youth” (Euseb, 
H. E. iv. 14). 


Here we may notice that 5. Polycarp was put to death, 
according to the Chronicles of Eusebius, in the year 166, in the 
persecution of Marcus Aurelius. On the day of his martyrdom 
S. Polycarp announced in the Stadium that he was eighty-six 
years of age. This would place his birth in the year 80, and he 
would consequently be only eighteen years of age when S. John, 
the last of the Apostles died. But Waddington, followed by 
Harnack, places the Smyrnian persecution, in which he was 
executed, in the Proconsulship of Quadratus, in the year 
155-156, in the reign of Antoninus Pius. Against this date we 
have the Rescript of Antoninus Pius admonishing the Governors 
of the Provinces not to trouble the Christians at all unless they - 
made attempts against the Roman Government, and the 
letter of Melito, Bishop of Sardis, to the Emperor Marcus 
Aurelius, stating that there was no persecution in Asia Minor 
before his time (161). “ What indeed never before happened, the 
race of the pious is now persecuted ” (Euseb. H. E. iv. 26). 
It is not easy to reconcile the statement of S. Irenzus that 
Polycarp was made Bishop by the Apostles in Asia, with these 
data concerning the age of Polycarp. 

S. Irenzus was acquainted with the writings of Papias, 
Bishop of Hierapolis. He says: “These things are attested 
by Papias, who was John’s hearer and the associate of Polycarp, 
an ancient writer, who mentions them in the fourth book of 


THE DATE OF REVELATION 85 


his works’’ (Euseb. H. E. iii. 39). Eusebius points out that 
S. Irenzeus made a mistake in saying that Papias was S. John’s 
hearer, as Papias himself wrote, “If therefore anyone came 
who had been a follower of the Presbyters, I would ask him 
about the words of the Presbyters” (H. E. iii. 39). S. Irenzeus 
held that the active ministry of our Lord occupied a period 
of from ten to fifteen years (Haer. II. xxii. 3 f.). He read 
the Apocalypse and accepted the millenarian view. He 
was interested in the question of Antichrist, as we have seen at 
page 26. Henoticed that the number of “the Beast” was given 
as 666 “in all the genuine and ancient copies.” He says “and 
as they who saw John attest, reason itself shows that the 
number of the name of the beast is indicated by the Greek 
letters which it contains” (Euseb. H. E. v. 8). In these re- 
marks he shows that he held an anthropomorphic view about 
Antichrist, at variance with the teaching of SS. John and 
Polycarp. He was mistaken, moreover, in saying that the 
name of “ the Beast,” erroneously assumed by him to be Anti- 
christ, would be indicated by the Greek letters which it con- 
tained, for the name is found with corresponding letters of the 
Hebrew Alphabet. The whole passage, both as regards Anti- 
christ and the Greek clue as to the name of the Beast, has been 
a stumbling block to exegetes for centuries. If they who saw 
John attested that, it is evident that S. John did not explain 
the Revelation to them. 

We must bear in mind that S. Irenzus was not writing 
about the date of the Apocalypse. He was writing about “ the 
Beast,” ‘‘ We therefore,” says he, ‘‘ do not venture to affirm any- 
thing with certainty respecting the name of Antichrist. For, 
were it necessary that his name should be clearly announced to 
the present age it would have been declared by him who saw 
the Revelation” (7) ἀποκαλυψις). “ For it has not been long 
since it was seen, but almost in our own generation, about the 
end of Domitian’s reign” (Euseb. H. E. v. 8; Iren. v. 30, 3). 

ATIOKAAT®I>, signifying the “ Revelation,” is the first 
word in the Book. ‘‘ The Apocalypse’’ was the name of the 
Book in the time of 8. Irenzus, as it is still. S. Irenzeus wrote, 
“For it has not been long since it (the Apocalypse) was seen.” 
He did not say that S. John was exiled, or that his Revelation 
was given, or that he saw the visions, or that the Book was 
written about the end of Domitian’s reign. He makes no mention 
of a Domitian persecution. He says, “οὐ πρὸ πολλοῦ χρόνου 
ἐωράθη. If we take ἡ ἀποκάλυψις as the subject of ἐωράθη it 
is open to the construction that he meant to refer to the Book, 
which we have reason to believe was copied and published in 
the Church for the first time about the end of Domitian’s reign. 


86 THE REVELATION 


This is the nucleus of the Domitian theory as to the date of 
the Book. Dr. Chase, Bishop of Ely, points out that “ Irenzeus 
wrote the third book of his great work when Eleutherius was 
Bishop of Rome” (III. iii. 3), 1.6., between 175 A.D. and 100 A.D. 
and the fifth book cannot be of an earlier date. Domitian was 
murdered in 96 A.D. Hence, if the Apocalypse was “ seen ” at 
the close of Domitian’s reign, nearly a hundred years had 
elapsed when Irenzus wrote his fifth book. Nevertheless 
S. Irenzus wrote of the close of Domitian’s reign as being 
almost in his own generation. On this Dr. Chase founds a 
theory that S. Irenzus’ “words imply that the Book was 
written a considerable time before the close of Domitian’s 
reign” (Journal of Theological Studies, April, 1907, p. 433). 

There is a tradition that S. John was exiled in’a period of 
persecution, and that the Revelation was given to him partly as 
a panacea against persecution. There are said to have been 
two persecutions in S. John’s lifetime, one under Nero, and the 
other at the end of Domitian’s reign. Nero’s persecution is a 
well-established fact. We have shown, in the Historic Notes, 
that Domitian’s persecution is not well attested. It is not easy 
to understand why a poor and feeble centenarian like S. John 
should be exiled by Domitian. We have seen in the Historic 
Notes, p. 64, that Domitian sent to Judea for living scions of 
the Royal House of David, confessed Christians, and finding 
that they were poor, and aspired only to a celestial Kingdom, 
dismissed them with contempt. 

One of the most striking and important visions of the Revela- 
tion of S. John is that which contains the cry of the martyrs: 
“ How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and 
revenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth” (R. vi. το). 
On this cry, as a text, much of the Book is written. What 
occasion was there for this harrowing appeal to Heaven at the 
end of Domitian’s reign ? 

Many Christian men and women of fifty years of age and 
over, living in Domitian’s reign, had witnessed the persecution 
of Nero, had seen the assault on the Church fail and recoil 
upon the head of the tyrant, who died, disgraced, by his own or 
by an assassin’s hand. They were salted, as it were, by persecu- 
tion; and the whole Church, young and old, had for thirty 
years flourished on the oft-told tale of Nero’s abortive perse- 
cution and punishment. They had seen persecution end, 
abruptly, on the death of Nero and the accession of Galba to 
the purple. There was very little chance of their being cast 
into an extreme of terror or dismay by the short-lived, and, so 
to speak, oblique persecution of Domitian. His edicts were 
not aimed at Christians, as such. 


THE DATE OF REVELATION 87 


It was not altogether a question of physical terror, there 
must have been an intellectual dread too. What of the promise _ 
of Christ ?—‘‘ I shall be with you all days, unto the end of the 
world....” “ The gates of hell shall not prevail against you” 
(Matt. xvi. 18). To all appearance, at Rome, the Christian 
Church was drowning in its own blood in Nero’s reign. We 
must consider the feeling of the ordinary Christian—the man in 
the street, so to speak—and look at it from his point of view. 
In later persecutions men had got to know that the Church could 
survive the furious edicts of Rome. But that was just the doubt 
which presented itself to the mind of the average Christian man 
in Nero’s time. 

Promises unfulfilled are apt, to unsettle faith. The average 
Christian perhaps doubted, as well as feared. It was a critical 
time. The fate of the Church seemed to hang in the balance. 
Christianity was at stake. When the Emperor himself assisted 
at the orgies of blood and cruelty under which the Church was 
groaning, when S. Peter was slain and the rock on which the 
Church was built disappeared, the promises of God to His Church 
seemed about to fail, the psychological moment had arrived for 
the publication of this Revelation. Then it was that S. John 
rapt into heaven received this message of hope to the bleeding 
Church. It proclaims the speedy end of persecution. It promises 
the rewards of eternal life to the constant in suffering and the 
white robe of glory to the Christian martyr. It foretells the de- 
cline and fall of the Roman Empire. That there was urgent need 
for this Revelation to allay the growing fears of Christians in the 
persecutions of Nero seems to be certain. That there was any 
such call for it in the time of Domitian is very improbable. 

The Domitian theory is hardly reconcilable with the fact 
that S. John was about one hundred years of age, at the end of 
Domitian’s reign. It is not reconcilable with the tradition that 
for some time before his death, in 98, he was too feeble by 
reason of old age to walk or preach, and had to be carried into 
Church, that is from one chamber to another. It clashes 
altogether with the tradition that S. John wrote his gospel after 
writing the Apocalypse, a tradition that is generally accepted 
and is vouched for by S. Irenzeus. If 5. John wrote his Book 
of Revelation at the end of Domitian’s reign and wrote his 
Gospel afterwards, he wrote the latter when over a hundred 
years of age, in the paralysis of senile decay. No one accepts 
that. The tradition is that he wrote his Gospel about ten 

ears after writing the Apocalypse, which is wholly incompat- 
ible with the Domitian theory, for he died two years after 
Domitian. The Gospel tradition is borne out by the fact that 
the Greek of S. John’s Gospel is more correct and polished 


88 THE REVELATION 


than that of his Apocalypse. It is necessary to recall for a 
moment the polemic of Dionysius of Alexandria against 
S. John’s authorship of the Book (see p. 36). He points out 
‘that the Greek of the Apocalypse is inferior in style to that of 
the Gospel. The latter work shows that long residence at 
Ephesus had made S. John an accomplished Greek scholar. 
This tells very much in favour of the early date of the Book. 
The two propositions that S. John wrote the Apocalypse in 
Domitian’s reign and wrote the Gospel soon after that seem to be 
mutually destructive. Moreover these propositions held together 
would confirm the contention of Dionysius that the difference 
of style of the two books, shows two different authors. If one 
was written in the year 96, and the other in the year 98, there 
should be no difference of style. Atthe end of Domitian’s reign 
S. John’s Greek education was complete, and his style formed. 

There is an omission from the Gospel of S. John, compared 
with the synoptic Gospels, which throws light on this subject. 
The prediction of our Lord with reference to the fall of the 
Temple of Jerusalem, found in Matt. (xxiv.), Mark (xiii.), and 
Luke (xxi.), is altogether omitted by S. John. This shows that 
S. John’s Gospel was written long after his Revelation, which 
warned the Nazarenes of the fall of the Temple. The pre- 
diction was fulfilled. No Temple existed. 

The Domitian theory is hopelessly at variance with the 
Clementine tradition that S. John led an active missionary life 
after the death of “ the Tyrant,’’ on his return to Patmos. 

Clement of Alexandria was a contemporary of S. Irenzus and 
a reliable authority. He vouches for the tradition enshrined in 
his “ Who is the Rich Man?” in this way: ‘‘ Listen to a story 
that is no fiction but a real history handed down and carefully pre- 
served respecting the Apostle John”? (italics ours). 

This story, which we have already printed in full at page 16, 
so completely cuts the ground from under the Domitian 
date, that it has been allowed to rank as a pious legend. 
Clement of Alexandria was known as a writer before the time 
of Pope Victor, A.D. 188. He was therefore living at the same 
time as S. Irenzeus. Eusebius calls him ‘‘a disciple of the 
Apostles.’”” He was a man of great learning. S. Jerome says 
that he was “‘ The most learned of our authors” (Catal et Ep. 
ad Magn). Theodoret says, ‘“‘ That holy man. surpassed all 
others in the extent of his learning’ (Her. F. E. 1,8). A proof 
of this is that Clement succeeded Pantzenus in the headship of 
the great’ Catechetical Christian School of Alexandria, about 
the year 190. His story of S. John’s return to Ephesus on the 
death of the Tyrant, and prolonged missionary career after- 
wards, is one of the best preserved of his writings. No one 


THE DATE OF REVELATION 89 


challenges its authenticity. Eusebius in the same chapter in 
which he stated that S. John returned from exile on the death 
of Domitian, quoted this story in full, as an excellent and profit- 
able discourse (H. E. iii., 23). He overlooked the fact that it is 
absolutely incompatible withthe Domitian date of S. John’s exile. 

So far as correlated traditions go, the Domitian tradition has 
an unhappy knack of disagreeing with them all. We know its 
origin. Let us see its patristic authority. Clement of Alexan- 
dria writing at the same time as S. Irenzus, and writing about 
the life of S. John, deliberately places his exile in Nero’s reign. 
Origen, a pupil of Clement’s, adds the title King to that of 
“ Tyrant” used by Clement, saying, “‘ as tradition teaches us.”’ 
The tradition taught him would be that of his teacher Clement 
(as we have pointed out at p. 28). Tertullian knew only the 
Neronian date. The author of the Muratorian Fragment is in the 
Same case, as also the author of the Syriac versions. Epi- 
phanius attributed S. John’s exile to Claudius, meaning Nero 
Claudius, since the Emperor Claudius died in Α.Ὁ. 54, and there 
was no persecution in his time. We now come to Eusebius 
who finished his Ecclesiastical History, c. 324 A.D. He inter- 
preted the remark of S. Irenzeus, that the Apocalypse was seen 
towards the end of Domitian’s reign, as referring to the visions 
of S. John. But in the same page he quotes the story of 
Clement which makes that interpretation impossible. S. Jerome 
in his book “ De Script Eccl.,” written about A.p. 382, follows 
Eusebius, but puts the exile in the year 84, ten years before 
there was any sign of a Domitian persecution. 

So far as the early Church is concerned, the reader can see on 
which side the weight of testimony lies. In the early middle 
age, Andreas, 7th, and Arethas, 8th century, point out that the 
destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem was found in the 
Apocalypse by ancient writers, showing a traditional belief that 
the Book was written before the year 70 A.D. 

That brings us‘to the internal evidence of the Book, which 
unquestionably points to the Neronian date in many ways. 
1st. The destruction of the Temple is foretold, as a revelation 
of the future. znd. Persecution was raging when the Book was 
written. 3rd. Nero is shown to be the reigning King when the 
Book was written. 4th. Tiridates, the Parthian, who made his 
triumphal progress to Rome in the year 66, is brought in as an 
illustration. And 5th, the note of vengeance belongs to the 
days of vengeance, when the Temple fell in the year 70. 

The point, that the Temple is written about as still existing, 
is not disputed. The words of the Book are as follows: “ And 
there was given to me a reed like unto a rod, and it was said to 
me: Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar and 


90 THE REVELATION 


them that adore therein. But the court which is without the 
temple cast out and measure it not, because it is given to the 
Gentiles, and the holy city they shall tread underfoot forty-two 
months” (R. xi. 1, 2). This must have been written before 
the year 70 A.D. After that there was no Temple, and no altar, 
and no Court of the Gentiles. No one would give directions at 
the present day for the measurement of the throne-room and 
courtyard of the Palace of the Tuileries, ruined in 1870 and 
pulled down shortly afterwards. How, then, can we date these 
directions, given in the Apocalypse for measuring the Temple, 
as written in the year 96, twenty-six years after its fall ? 

The Temple prophecy in Revelation is accompanied by refer- 
ences to the flight of the Nazarene Church to Pella, and the 
coming of Christ’s Kingdom. It is backed up by frequent 
references to prophecies in the O.T. relating to the event, and 
by a wealth of symbolism taken from the sacred instruments 
and ritual of the Temple. 

2nd. The cry of the martyrs which forms the central motive 
of the book, “ How long, O Lord,” denotes a period of intense 
and prolonged persecution. Nero’s persecution alone could 
account for it. 

3rd. S. John does not say that Nero was the reigning King, 
at the time of his Revelation, for reasons known to the reader. 
But he works out the cryptic symbolism of his identity with 
marvellous ingenuity and clearness. All this will be found in 
the exegesis. At the cost of repetition we must review the 
evidence here. 

First, we have a beast coming out of the sea, having seven 
heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten diadems (R. xiii. I). 
This is Daniel’s fourth beast, ‘the Roman Empire. To show 
that he is the fourth beast, S. John compounds the Beast of 
the three empires he devoured and broke up—viz., the Chaldean, 
Persian, and Grecian Empires. He makes him like a leopard, 
with the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion (R. xili. 2). 
The lion the bear and the leopard were Daniel’s symbols for the 
above mentioned empires. Then S. John saw that one of his 
heads—heads consequently of the Roman Empire—was wounded 
to death and his deadly wound was healed, and all the earth 
wondered at it (R. xiii. 3). The heads of the Empire were 
the Emperors. There is an esoteric allusion to Nero in the 
Emperor who was wounded and recovered. ‘There was a wide- | 
spread belief in Nero’s reign that he would be killed and come to 
life again. Suetonius mentions it (Nero 40-57). Tacitus alludes 
to it in his “ History ” (ii., 8). Dion Chrysostom (c. 117) refers to 
it (Orat d. Pulchrid, p. 371). So does Lactantius, and 
5. Augustine in his De Civit. Dei, xx., 19. One of the Sibylline 


THE DATE OF REVELATION gl 


Books records it plainly: “He who shall obtain the mark of 
fifty (7.2, whose name begins with N =50) will be Lord, a horrid 
serpent breathing out grievous war; who will destroy the out- 
stretched arms of her who bore him... he shall be secretly 
destroyed. Then shall he return, making himself equal to a 
God” (Lib. v., p. 574). Nero destroyed his mother. In the 
ten years following Nero’s death there appeared two pseudo 
Neros among the Parthians, and two in Asia Minor, showing 
the influence of the belief in Nero’s revival, in those times. _ 

5. John says that the beast “ blasphemed God and his 
tabernacle,” meaning that he was proclaimed a God and had 
temples erected to him with blasphemous titles inscribed 
thereon. Then he says that it was given to him to make war with 
the saints and overcome them. Τῶν ἁγίων, “the saints,” was 
the name given to Christians at that time. Nero was permitted 
by God to persecute them and overcome them, in the sense of 
slaying them, even to SS. Peter and Paul. “ And all that dwell 
upon the earth adored him ” (R. xiii. 6 ff.), an allusion to Cesar 
worship and the deification of Nero. 

We go on now to Chapter xvii., for S. John does not put all 
his marks of identification in one place, lest the evidence should 
betray him to the ruling emperor Nero. 

An angel comes to S. John in Chapter xvii., and explains to 
him the meaning of the symbols. First he shows him a woman 
drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the 
martyrs of Jesus. And she had on her forehead a name written, 
*“‘ Babylon the Great.”” Babylon was the well known symbolic 
name for Rome, amongst Christians in S. John’s day. Then 
the angel says, ‘‘ Here is the understanding that hath wisdom. 
The seven heads are seven mountains, upon which the woman 
sitteth, and they are seven kings” (R. xvii. 9). The expression 
“ mountains”’ has a double significance, since great potentates 
were sometimes symbolised by mountains in the O.T.; and, as 
a matter of fact, the woman, Rome, was built upon seven hills, 
and was known in literature as Septicollis Roma. The angel 
goes on with reference to the seven heads, or Kings. ‘“ Five are 
fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come, and when he shall 
come he must remain a short time, and the beast which was 
and is not, the same is also the eighth, and is of the seven, and 
goeth into destruction ” (R. xvii. τὸ f.). We aretold that “‘ the 
seven heads are seven Kings,” the title Basileus or King was 
distinctive of the heads of the Empire in Nero’s reign. ‘‘ Five 
are fallen.” The five fallen were Julius Cesar, Augustus, 
Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius. “One is.” One is alive— 
viz., the sixth King, Nero. Then comes a further allusion to 
Nero’s reincarnation. A seventh King must reign for a short 


92 THE REVELATION 


time. Then “the one that was,” referring to “‘ One that is” 
above, the same will come back as the eighth King. 

We go back now to Chapter XIII., where the principal mark 
of Nero, the beast, is found. It is introduced by a similar call 
for wisdom and understanding. ‘He that hath understanding 
let him compute the number of the beast, for it is the number 
of a manand his number is six hundred and sixty six” 
(R. xiii. 18). 

S. John explains that the beast is a man, that his number 666 
will disclose his name by gematria, if the matter be studied 
with wisdom and understanding. This was addressed to the 
Servants of God, the Hebrew leaders of the Church in S. John’s 
time, to Simeon of Jerusalem, and perhaps to S. Paul at Rome. 
It is supposed that the latter died some time in the year 67. 

It was a common custom in S. John’s time to denote men by 
the numbers found in the letters composing their names, con- 
sidered as numerals. Amongst the Hebrews it was a literary 
fashion. 

Seeing that S. John was a Hebrew, whose Greek, in the 
‘Apocalypse, has a very strong Hebraic flavour, it occurred to 
Benary, Hitzig, Reuss, and Ewald that he had in his mind 
Hebrew letters when penning this passage (Hastings’ Dictionary 
of the Bible, 1902). Now, the name of Nero appears in the 
Talmud and other Rabbinical writings in two forms—one in 
which it is written in Hebrew, after the Greek analogy, thus 
3173 Wp (Neron Kaiser). The numerical value of these letters 


is 666, made up as follows: 
5=50, “l=200, }=6, }=50, pr sae D=60, "}=200= 606. 


This very remarkable discovery was made in 1835. 

S. John wishes to convey to his brethren a definite name. 
He makes use of gematria, or the science of numbers, with 
which they were familiar, and uses Greek letters to conceal his 
meaning from Nero and his officers. 

Recent researches have shown that, in the Hebrew writings 
of S. John’s time, the name of Nero is spelt with a mark, called 
the Yod, equal to ten in gematria—thus “D’P, which would 


make the number of his name 676, not 666. But this does not 
detract from the value of the discovery, for it is felt that ID, 


without the Yod would be recognised as Nero by the brethren, 
as every other indication pointed to Nero. Dr. Hort says, 
“The absence of the Yod is nothing, there is excellent authority 
for that” (p. xxxi.). Dr. Swete says, ‘‘ But the abbreviation is 
perhaps allowable in a cypher, and it is not without example” 
(Renan L’ Antichrist, p. 415; op. cit. p. 176, note 4). 


THE DATE OF REVELATION 93 


It will be remembered that S. Irenzus found in the more 
recent, and probably Latin copies of the Apocalypse, at Lyons, 
the number of the beast given as 616. This is fortunate, as it 
shows the Roman recipient of Revelation understood the 
meaning of the Beast, and marked his copy accordingly. The 
Latin name Nero Ceasar, expressed in Hebrew letters, and 
worked out to numerals by gematria, gives the number 616. 

Some have denied that Nero was the sixth King. They 
begin the line of Czsars with Augustus. We have to go back 
to the time of S. John to see how the Romans and Jews of the 
period reckoned the line of kings. 

Suetonius, who lived a few years after Nero’s time, begins 
the list with Julius Cesar, in his work “ The Twelve Cesars.”’ 
Dion Cassius does the like. In the fourth book of Esdras, 
written by a Jewish Christian at the close of the first century, 
an angel, explaining the vision of the Roman eagle, says, that 
twelve kings shall reign in it, the second of which (Augustus) 
shall reign longer than any of the twelve (xii. 13 et seqg.). In 
Book V. of the Sibylline Oracles, written not long after the 
destruction of Jerusalem, in an enumeration of the Roman 
emperors, Julius Cesar is placed first, and Nero sixth. The 
emperors are not named, but are marked by a number corre- 
sponding to the initial letter of their official names. ‘“ He whose 
name signifies twice ten stands at the head of the series,” 
meaning Kavcap, or Julius Czsar—K=20. Next follows: 
“He whose name is first of the alphabet ’’—7.e. Augustus; and 
sixth, 50= N—Nero. 

Josephus, who lived in the reign of Nero, and who was a 
contemporary of S. John, makes Julius Cesar the first of the 
Czsars, and Nero the sixth. 

When we consider that the principal object of the Roman 
theses was to set forth the crime and punishment of Cesar 
worship, that Julius Czsar was the first of the Czsars, that he 
was the first of the Czsar Gods, that he gave his name to the 
line of the Czesars, that the name of Cesar is part of the name 
of the Beast, it seems unreasonable to exclude him from con- 
sideration. 

The Revelation foretells the overthrow of the Roman power 
by hostile armies. But Rome, Mistress of the World, was 
held by all in Nero’s reign to be invincible. A symbol of a 
conquering power, threatening Rome, was required. It was 
chosen from Parthia. 

For more than a century Parthia, in defiance of Rome, had 
proudly upheld the banner of the lion in the broad lands beyond 
the Euphrates. 

For many years the struggle had been for the possession of 


94 | THE REVELATION 


the kingdom of Armenia. In the year 66, Tiridates, a Parthian 
of the royal line of Arsacid, came to Rome to receive at the 
hands of Nero the crown of the kingdom of Armenia. 

Tiridates was received with great splendour and the crown 
was given to him by Nero. 

We turn now to the Apocalypse. The action of the book 
begins at verse two of Chapter vi. where our Lord appears as 
a conqueror. “And I saw and beheld a white horse, and he 
that sat on him had a bow: and a crown was given to him, 
and he went forth conquering, that he might conquer.” 

What is the significance of this symbolism? The bow in 

those days was just as much a weapon of warfare as the rifle is 
to-day. The Romans had ceased to use it, but it was the chief 
weapon of their enemies, the Parthians, who used it, moreover, 
on horseback. The Parthian army was composed of mounted 
archers, whose battle tactics are so well known that “a Parthian 
shaft’ has passed into a proverb. White was the sacred colour 
of the Persians, with whom the Parthians were confounded at 
Rome. The Roman poets of the Augustan era used the ex- 
pressions Parthia and Persia indifferently. A sacred white 
horse accompanied a Persian army. Kings of Persia who led 
their armies to battle were mounted on white horses. Parthian 
coins of the years 42-65, just before S. John’s exile, show the 
King, Artabanus III. mounted on a white horse. The regular 
reverse type on Parthian coins shows the King deified as Apollo, 
armed with a bow, as a symbol of military power (Ramsay, 
Letters to the Seven Churches, pp. 58-61). The Apocalypse makes 
use of both sides of the coin in this symbolism. 
* The horseman is identified as our Lord, later in the Apocalypse, 
when He appears at the head of His forces in final battle. He 
is ‘the Word of God” (R. xix. 13). Moreover, we are told 
that “ He hath on his garments and on his thigh written, King 
of Kings and Lord of Lords” (R. xix. 16). Now Phraates II. 
adopted the title of “ King of Kings,” which came into general 
use as the title of the Parthian kings from the time of Orodes, 
38 B.c. It was the title of the Parthian kings when Tiridates 
came to Rome. 

A Greek inscription was found at Bisutun, in which Géterzés, 
a Parthian monarch who reigned A.D. 41-51, is called Satrap of 
Satraps, equivalent to Lord of Lords. He was chief Satrap of 
Parthia, and assumed the title of King of Kings, later on, when 
he came to the throne. 

It will probably be admitted that this is Parthian symbolism 
and that it throws light upon the date of the Apocalypse. The 
book was written, apparently, when Parthian politics in relation 


THE DATE OF REVELATION 95 


to Rome deeply interested all parts of the Empire, as in the 
year 66. 

In all the thirty years that elapsed between the time of 
Tiridates’ visit to Rome, and the persecution of Domitian, in 96, 
peace with Parthia reigned supreme. There was no Parthian 
question in Domitian’s reign. The memory of the Parthian 
war had been blotted out by a succession of startling events at 
home and abroad. 

It is not probable that either Jewish or Parthian symbols would 
be familiar to the Servants of God in the year 96. The old Hebrew 
leaders of the Church were dead. The Kingdom of Christ had 
been long established. The primacy of the Church had passed 
to Rome, when Gentile Bishops ruled the Church. There was 
no one left to read the riddle of the Apocalypse aright. Papias, 
Justin Martyr, and Irenzus were all Millenarians. The mere 
fact that the Revelation was not understood in the year 96, 
shows that it was not written at that time or for that genera- 
tion. Dating the Book in Domitian’s persecution is tantamount 
to saying that it fell flat and was not understood. 

5. There is a note of vengeance running through the Book 
which seems out of harmony with the placid character of 
S. John’s old age and the nature of his teachings late in life. 
On the other hand, before the fall of the Temple, the fulfilment 
of prophecies was in the air. The Nazarene Church had in- 
herited Jewish ideals, and believed in the lex or jus talionis. 
“The Lord is a jealous God and an avenger and hath wrath, 
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries”’ (Nahum i. 2. See 
Exod. xxi. 24, and Levit. xxiv. 20). The Book itself is in a 
great measure a revelation of God’s vengeance on Jew and 
Pagan. The day of vengeance had come. The scroll of 
vengeance was unrolled in the sight of the Seer, and he was 
told to write it down. 

We can hardly imagine S. John, carried into church, and 
preaching brotherly love as the one thing needed (p. 20), and in 
the same period of his life breathing forth the fire and slaughter 
of the Apocalypse, and painting its pictures of vengeance. The 
Domitian date is not patristic. It clashes with early and well 
established traditions. The internal evidence of the Book rules 
it out of court. It seems most probable, therefore, that the 
Apocalypse was written in the Neronian persecution, early in 
the year 67. 

S. Irenzeus, the supposed author of the Domitian date, makes 
no mention of Domitian persecution. 


THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA 


A FOREWORD is needed as to the meaning of the Letters 
addressed to the Angels of the Seven Churches of Proconsular 
Asia, viz., Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, 
Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Many have thought that the 
Letters were intended for the above-named local Churches. 
Montanus of Phrygia thought so, and paved the way to 
schism. 

On the other hand some have thought, even in early days, 
that the Letters were addressed to the Church at large. 

Victorinus, Bishop of Petavio, A.D. 303, the earliest commen- 
tator on the Apocalypse, says: ‘‘ What John addresses to one 
Church he addresses to all. Paul has first taught us that there 
are seven Churches in the whole world, and that the seven 
Churches named mean the Catholic Church”. (Bib. Max. 
Patrum, Tom. iii., p. 414 ff.). Andreas of Cappadocia agreed 
with this. Grotius and Vitringa held that the letters to the 
seven churches revealed the condition of the Church in the 
successive ages of its existence down to the end of the world 
(see Vit. in Apoc., p. 32). The Ven. Holzhauser specialised on 
this subject, to which he devoted a great part of his book, 
“The Interpretation of the Apocalypse” (A.D. 1646). He 
found in these Letters a prediction of the spiritual state of the 
Church of Christ in the seven ages of its existence ; and he 
attempted to map out the seven ages from the pages of history. 

Far-reaching consequences hang upon this inquiry. If we 
find that the letters were not intended for the local Churches 
of Asia Minor, but for the universal Church of all time, the 
messages will have to be re-examined and closely scrutinised 
from the point of view of history. From data already obtained, 
we may be sure that this will lead to most important con- 
clusions respecting the past and future of the Church, the 
millennium, and the position of the Church of the twentieth 
century in the secular scale. 

It seems probable that the early Church took the Letters to 
be symbolical; the note of symbolism is so clearly stamped 

96 


————————— γαν.-" 


THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA 97 


upon the whole Book of Revelation. If we look at the “ History 
of the Book,” we will find that S. Polycarp in his Letter to the 
Philadelphians made no mention of the Letters. S. Ignatius of 
Antioch in his Epistles to Ephesus, Smyrna, and Philadelphia 
ignored the Letters. Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, close to 
Laodicea, made no reference to them. Neither did any other 
early writer of Asia Minor, or elsewhere. The Apocalypse was 
known. Its millenarian passages had given rise to Chiliasm. 
But there is a significant silence about the Letters. If the 
letters were written in the Hebraic metaphoric style, which 
veils the political predictions of the Book, one could under- 
stand this silence. But they are not. They are written almost 
entirely in plain language. If their warnings came home to the 
individual Churches, and the truth and application of each was 
generally recognised, we should hear of it. It would have 
entered into the prolonged controversies as to the merits of the 
Book. The Seven Churches of Asia would surely be found 
ranged with the supporters of the Book. Asa matter of fact, 
there is no mention of the Letters in the polemic about the 
authorship of Revelation. They seem to have been taken by 
both sides as symbolic and incomprehensible. The mere fact 
of there being seven Churches would have arrested the atten- 
tion of S. John’s Hebrew compeers. Seven, as we shall see in 
the next chapter, was a sacred Hebrew symbol, signifying 
completeness, or the full cycle of the things denoted by that 
number. In the seven days of creation and the seven gifts 
of the Holy Ghost, we have characteristic illustrations of the 
meaning of the number seven. 

But to the numerical symbol we have added, in this particular 
instance of the Seven Churches, a most elaborate symbolical 


’ introduction. ‘The Seven Churches are seen in a vision as 


“seven golden candlesticks” (R. 1. 12). Our Lord explains to 
S. John that “ the seven candlesticks are the Seven Churches ” 
(R. i. 20). These candlesticks were familiarly known to the 
Hebrew Servants of God. They were the seven lamps of the 
Tabernacle of the Temple of Jerusalem, lamps which branched 
from a common stem uniting them all into one solid lamp of gold. 

This lamp was designed by God, and the orders for its 
construction are given in Exodus xxv. 31 ff. It wasa peculiarly 
sacred object. Even the oil burnt in it, was prescribed for 
its use by God (Levit. xxiv. 2). The light of the Tabernacle 
symbolised the Light of the Old Law. When the Temple was 
destroyed the Light of the Old Law was extinguished. The 
sacred candlestick was taken to Rome to adorn the triumphal 
procession of Titus; and its shape and form are sculptured 
upon his Arch, at Rome. The accompanying sketch, which 

7 


98 THE REVELATION 


does not profess to be correct, was taken partly from the Arch 
of Titus and partly from the details in Exodus. It will serve 
to illustrate the symbolism of the Seven Churches. 

The seven golden candlesticks of the Tabernacle are made 
use of by Jesus Christ to symbolise His Church, through which 
He shines, as the Light of the World. 

The Candlesticks and Churches appear in the first chapter 
of the Book and are introduced in this way. “Τῆς Revelation 
of Jesus Christ which God gave to him to make known to his 
servants the things which must shortly come to pass, and 
signified sending by his angel to his servant John” (R. i. 1). 
A revelation of the future was given to John to make known to 
the Servants of God. We may anticipate the exegesis a little 
by saying that the “‘ Servants” of God form the hierarchy of the 
Church. Then follows, “ John to the Seven Churches” grace 
and peace from the Father, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ 
who has made us a kingdom and priests to God. 


“1 was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a ἡ 
great voice, as of a trumpet, saying: What thou seest write in a 
book; and send to the seven churches which are in Asia, to 
Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to 
Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. And I turned to see 
the voice that spoke with me: and being turned, I saw seven golden 
candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, one 
like unto the Son of Man. ... And he had in his right hand seven 
stars. ... And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And 
he laid his right hand upon me, saying: Fear not: I am the first 
and the last.... Write, therefore, the things which thou hast 
seen, and which are, and which must be done hereafter. The 
mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest in my right hand, and 
the seven golden candlesticks: the seven stars are the angels of the 


seven churches, and the seven candlesticks are the seven churches” 
(R. i. 10-20). 


The first and most important point to notice is that this is a 
vision of the future. S. John was ordered to make known to 
the servants of God “the things which must shortly come to 
pass.” It isa revelation in the sense of a prediction or prophecy. 
S. John heard behind him a great voice, and “ turned to see the 
voice,” and being turned “saw seven golden candlesticks,” 
corresponding to the Seven Churches. 

This imagery places the Seven Churches in the future. The 
prophets looked upon history as a procession of events. As in 
a procession the leader must turn round and look behind him 
to see what is coming after him, so the prophet turns round to 
see the events which follow after him in point of time. Looking 
behind him into the future, S. John saw seven golden candle- 


THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA 99 


sticks, which our Lord tells him, “ are the seven churches,” 
subsequently named, from Ephesus to Laodicea. He saw “in 
the midst of the seven golden candlesticks one like unto the 
Son of Man.” This vision confirms the promise made by our 
Lord to His Church. ‘“ Behold I am with you all days even 


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to the consummation of the world ” (Matt. xxviii. 20). And our 
Lord had “in his right hand seven stars” which He tells us 
are ‘‘the Angels of the Seven Churches.” The Angels of the 
Churches are the Chief Bishops of the Church, the successors 
of S. Peter, to whom it was said, “Thou art Peter and upon 


100 THE REVELATION 


this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall 
not prevail against it” (Matt. xvi. 18). This promise is also 
confirmed by the vision. 

Some writers have held that the Angels of the Churches are 
not flesh and blood, but spiritual beings, in charge of the 
Churches, as guardian angels. Our Lord held visible stars in 
His right hand, and He tells S. John that these are the 
“angels” of the Seven Churches. Spirits are invisible and 
intangible, and do not correspond to the symbolism. More- 
over, these angels of the Apocalypse are admonished, warned, 
praised and encouraged, according to the state of their 
Churches. 

It is not probable that God would grant visions to S. John, 
and order him to write a book about them and send it to super- 
natural beings. 

We may anticipate the exegesis a little by saying that 
“angels” and “apostles” are derived from two Greek words, 
having the same meaning, “ a messenger ”’ or “‘ one sent.”” We 
assume that the Angels are the successors of the Apostles, who 
as Chief Bishops, rule the Church. 

The introduction to the seven Churches contains one other 
important note for our guidance. Our Lord refers to “the 
mystery ” of the seven stars, and the seven golden candlesticks. 
He draws attention to the fact that this vision veils a mystery, 
and He lifts but a corner of the veil. 

The Key to the mystery lies in the seven candlesticks which 
symbolise the seven churches. As the seven-branched lamp of 
the tabernacle formed but one lamp, so the seven churches are 
one church, the complete cycle of the Church of Christ in its 
secular aspect. The seven lamps of the Tabernacle in their 
union with each other, through their foundation and support, 
represent the union of the Church in all its ages with its 
founder and supporter Jesus Christ. This invests every one 
of the Seven Churches of Asia with a symbolic significance. 
Collectively they stand for the universal Church of all time. 
Individually they stand for its seven successive periods. 

It is generally accepted that the history of the Church, as 
it lies before us, falls naturally into seven divisions, each 
having its special characteristics. First, “the Apostolic 
Church. Second, the Church of the Martyrs. Third, the 
Church of the Confessors and Doctors. Fourth, the wide- 
spreading Church of the Middle Ages. Fifth, the Church of 
the Reformation period. Sixth, the present day Church of 
the open door. Seventh, the Church of the last days.” 

Holzhauser thought that the seven churches from Ephesus 
to Laodicea were selected because their names indicated the 


THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA τοι 


chief characteristics of the different ages of the Church. 
Thus, Ephesus means “counsel,” “my wish” and “great 
distinction.”’ The first age witnessed the will of God in the 
new counsel of Christianity. It also witnessed the aboli- 
tion of the Old Law and the advent of the Kingdom of 
Christ. Smyrna means “ canticles,” or “ myrrh.” Myrrh is 
an emblem of blood. It characterises the martyrs’ agé, which 
ended in the canticles of the Church triumphant (R. vii. 10). 
Pergamos means “dividing the horns.” It witnesses to the 
separation of truth from heresy, which took place in the third 
age; also the division of the Church into East and West. 
Thyatira means ‘‘to be lighted up.” It is a symbol of the 
conversion of the nations, which took place in the fourth age. 
Sardis signifies, “the origin or cause of beauty,” referring to 
the Reformation persecution, which renewed the strength and 
beauty of the Church in the fifth age. Philadelphia means, 
“brotherly love,” the characteristic of the present or sixth age. 
And Laodicea means “ vomiting,” significant of the last age of 
the Church. 

The Seven Churches to which the Book of Revelation was 
sent, were situated on the main Roman road circling in 
S. John’s district of Proconsular Asia in the same order in 
which they are named by S. John. This will be seen in the 
accompanying map. Starting from S. John’s headquarters at 
Ephesus and travelling north, one came first to Smyrna, and 
then to Pergamos, where the road turned south-east, then to 
Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. 

There is a peculiarity in the selection of these names which 
gives colour to Holzhauser’s theory. A glance at the map will 
show that the seventh city on the Roman road was Hierapolis. 
But that Church was passed over in favour of Laodicea, 
because Laodicea signifies vomiting. Of this Church our 
Lord says, “ But because thou art lukewarm and neither cold 
nor hot I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth” 
(R. iii. 16). 

The Letters were not Epistles from S. John to his flock, 
although the Churches addressed were in his Apostolic charge. 
They are unlike any of the Canonical Epistles. They come 
direct from God. Their opening words are prophetic and their 
concluding words show that they are the outpourings of the 
Holy Spirit. Every letter ends thus, ‘“ He that hath an ear let 
him hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches.” 

Dr. Swete makes a comment on the Greek text with which 
these letters begin, which confirms the above conclusion. He 
says: The formula τῷ ἀγγέλῳ... γράψον : Τάδε λέγει is not 
epistolary, but prophetic; for γράψον cf. i. 11, 19; Xiv. 13; XIX. 9; 


THE REVELATION | 


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THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA 103 


Xxi.5. Τάδε λέγει announces a prophetic message, as frequently 
in the LXX (“ The Apocalypse of S. John,” p. xli, Note 4). 

The Letters are distinctly a part of the Revelation of 
S. John, and they are put in the forefront of his Book. The 
reader will find that they relate exclusively to the interior 
state of the Church. There are predictions as to the punish- 
ments of the wicked and the rewards of the just, also as to 
persecution ; but the general tenor of the Letters is a survey 
of the moral condition of the Church, accompanied by advice 
and warning, and guidance from the Holy Spirit. As addressed 
to living local Churches, one fails to understand how they could 
be taken as a prediction. 

The repetition of warnings and threats of punishment remind 
one of the prophecies of the Old Law. The predictions of the 
prophets were given to the chosen people to encourage them to 
virtue and especially to warn them of the final doom of impeni- 
tence. It is natural to suppose that a similar concession would 
be made to human weakness in the new Dispensation. The 
Revelation or Prophecy of S. John stands to the Church of 
Christ in the same relation as the prophecies of the Old Law 
stood to Judaism. It reveals the future, warns the Church, and 
proclaims the final judgment. This will appear more distinctly 
in the detailed exegesis of the Letters. 

The importance of the Seven Churches in the scheme of 
Revelation is not limited by the Letters. The Book of Reve- 
lation as a whole was intended for them. The Command of 
God was thus expressed to S. John, “ What thou seest write 
in a book and send to the seven churches ” (R. i. 11, where see 
notes). 

“ What thou seest ” relates to the visions which come on after 
the Seven Letters, which visions contain the revelation of 
the future, down to the end of the world. Philadelphia, the 
sixth Church, is warned of the near approach of the second 
coming of Christ, ‘Behold I come quickly” (R. i. 11). 
Laodicea, the seventh and last church, is warned that the 
second coming is at the door, “‘ Behold I stand at the door and 
knock ” (R. iii. 20). 

*‘The last words of the Apocalypse, based on two passages of 
Deuteronomy, place the Apocalypse on a level with the Torah, and 
anticipate a place for it among the Scriptures of the Church. It is 
evident that S. John anticipated that it would go down to posterity 
as a book for the warning and comfort of the whole Church to the 
end of time” (Swete, of. cit., p. xcviii). 


We read in the last words, 


“ For I testify to every one that heareth the words of the prophecy 
of this book: If any man shall add to these things, God shall add 


104 THE REVELATION 


upon him the plagues written in this book. And if any man shall - 
take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall 
take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, 
and from these things which are written in this book... . Surely 
I come quickly: Amen” (R. xxii, 18-20). 


There is evidence here that the book was sent to Churches 
which will last to the end of the world. It is a prediction. 
It foresees the abundant apocalyptic literature of the seven- 
teenth and later centuries, and it warns us not to tamper with 
the words of the book. 

So far we have examined the Letters without reference to 
the special circumstances of the local Churches of Asia. We 
turn now to compare one with the other. The result would be 
astonishing if it were not foreseen. There appears to be very 
little connection between the Letters and the Churches. 

When the Revelation was given, in the year 67, the Seven 
Churches of Asia were newly formed. Some of them barely 
existed. 

When 8. Paul went to Ephesus, about the year 54, he found 
certain disciples there, but they had not been either instructed 
or baptised. He asked them: 


“ Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? But 
they said to him: We have not so much as heard whether there be a 
Holy Ghost. And he said: In what then were you baptised? Who 
said: In John’s baptism.... Having heard these things they 
were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had 
imposed his hands on them, the Holy Ghost came upon them, and 
they spoke with tongues and prophesied. And all the men were 
about twelve” (Acts xix. 2, 7). 


This was, practically, the foundation of the Church of 
Ephesus. Twelve men were baptised and confirmed by 
S. Paul. It would appear that they received, in Confirmation, 
the same gifts which the Apostles received on the day of 
Pentecost, for they spoke with tongues and prophesied; that 
is, preached as the mouthpieces of God. They were not 
bishops in the modern sense of the word, with mitre and ring, 
and with a titular diocese. In the first century, “ ancients,” or 
“ presbyters ” of the Church were placed in charge of Christian 
groups, large enough to require supervision. ‘These men had 
not the dignified position acquired by bishops of the Church in 
later times. But their existence in Asia Minor and their office 
as overseers of the Churches, is made clear by the “ Acts of the 
Apostles” and the Epistles of S. Paul. About three years after 
S. Paul had consecrated the twelve men of Ephesus, he was 
shipwrecked at Malta on his way to Jerusalem. He sent to 


THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA 105 


Ephesus for the ancients of the Church, presumably these same 
twelve men. “Sending from Miletus to Ephesus, he called the 
ancients of the Church ” (Acts xx. 17). And thus he addressed 
them: ‘Take heed to yourselves and to the whole flock, 
wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you overseers [ἐπίσκοποι] 
to rule the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his 
own blood” (Acts xx. 28). 

It appears, from the Acts of the Apostles, that the Church of 
Ephesus, the mother Church of the Province of Asia, was 
founded by S. Paul some thirteen years before the Apocalypse 
was writtten. We do not know when the other Churches, 
mentioned in the Letters, were founded. There is no evidence 
that S. Paul himself visited any of them. They were converted 
by missionaries, who spread out from Ephesus in the course of 
time. They were, therefore, founded later than A.D. 54. 

The exact dates of the acts of S. Paul are not known. The 
only fixed point we have is the date of the death of Portius 
Festus, the Roman Governor, which took place in the year 62. 
He it was who sent S. Paul to Rome for trial by Nero. This 
is supposed to have been about the year 61. Before that, 
S. Paul had been imprisoned at Cesarea, for more than two 
years, by Felix the governor. And so we work back to the 
other dates approximately. 

It is plain, at all events, that all of the Seven Churches of 
Asia were recently founded when the Letters were written, and 
that some of them were in their infancy as Churches. 

It is well known that there was no organised ‘‘ church,” in 
our sense of the word, in any of the cities of Asia Minor in the 
year 67. There was no public worship, no religious building, 
and no united congregation of the faithful. Christians were 
not allowed church buildings until the third century. In a 
great city like Ephesus, there were, at that time, small gather- 
ings of the faithful, held privately, in the houses of leading 
Christians. Each of them was known as a church. S. Paul 
speaks of “ Nymphas and the church, that is in his house” 
(Col. iv.15). Judging by the “ Acts,” the Apostles lodged in these 
so-called churches from time to time. ‘Aquila and Priscilla 
salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their 
_ house; with whom I also lodge” (1 Cor. xvi. 1g). The epistle 
to Philemon is sent, not only to Philemon, but also “to the 
church which is in thy house” (Phil. 2). 

Writing generally of the history of the seven Churches, it may 
be said that they became infested with the Montanist and Arian 
heresies, which arose in the East, and tormented the Church of 
the first centuries. When the seat of Empire was transferred 
from Rome to Constantinople in the fourth century, they came 


106 THE REVELATION 


under the Byzantine influence, and at the end of that century 
passed into the hands of the Greek Church. In the fifth century 
these Churches espoused the cause of Eutyches and embraced 
the Monophysite doctrine. Various dissensions arose in con- 
sequence, but all the forms of Eutychianism were united in the 
Jacobite Church by the monk, Jacob, in the sixth century. In 
the seventh century (636) the Arab conquest of Syria brought 
continual misfortunes upon that part of Asia. As members of 
the Orthodox Greek Church they shared in the conflicts 
between the Greeks and the Catholic Church: they denied the 
supremacy of the Pope and the procession of the Holy Ghost 
from the Father and the Son. They were finally excommuni- 
cated with the rest of the Greek Church, by Leo IX. in the 
year 1054. In the same century they were overrun by the 
Seljuk Turks. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the 
district of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor was devastated 
by Islamic hordes of wandering nomads, with whom the 
Byzantine power was unable to cope. At the end of the 
thirteenth century Mohammedanism reigned supreme in the 
whole district, and it does so still. The Sultan of Turkey is 
now lord of Asia Minor. Some of the Churches of the 
Apocalypse have disappeared entirely. Others survive as 
Orthodox Greek, or Jacobite Churches. Some even of the 
great cities, which gave their names to the Churches, are gone 
from the face of the earth. Ephesus and Laodicea are mere 
heaps of ruins. The first and the last, and also the greatest of 
the Churches, have long since disappeared. This sad historic 
record points to the conclusion that the Seven Churches of Asia 
were but vanishing symbols of the ages of a Church which is 
imperishable. 

When we compare the Letters with the Churches in the 
exegesis, we shall find remarkable divergences. The statements 
made regarding them do not generally fit in with their condition 
as primitive Churches. But the things omitted are, if possible, 
still more surprising. Here we have Churches that were later 
more or less infected by Arianism and the other heresies which 
ravaged the Greek Church. There is not a word about heresy 
in any one of the Letters. On the contrary, Pergamos, the 
third Church, which we take to symbolise the third age, or age 
of heresies, is told, “‘ I know where thou dwellest, where the seat 
of Satan is, and thou holdest fast my name and hast not denied 
_ my faith’ (R. ii. 13). We can understand this as addressed to 
the Church of Rome, but not as addressed to the Church of 
Pergamos in Asia Minor. There is not a word about the 
extinction of the Churches. Quite the reverse. They are 
treated as guardians of the Book of Revelation till the end of 


THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA 107 


time. To the last Church it is said, “ Behold I stand at the 
door and knock.” ‘This message was sent to Laodicea more 
than eighteen hundred years ago, and Christ has not come yet. 
More than that, Laodicea disappeared long ago. Its ruins are 
found near the village of Denizli, formerly called Denizli 
Ladik. 

Of positive divergences between the Letters and the Churches 
to which they are nominally addressed, it will be sufficient to 
mention here two glaring instances. Others will be found in 
the detailed exegesis. The longest Letter of the series is 
addressed to Thyatira. This Church is assumed to be of long 
standing and renowned for its good works. Our Lord says, ‘ I 
know thy works, and thy faith, and thy charity, and thy 
ministry, and thy patience, and thy last works, which are more 
than the former” (R. ii. 19). What are the facts? The city 
of Thyatira was the smallest and least important of the seven. 
Its Church is unknown to history. Eusebius, the early 
Ecclesiastical Historian, does not mention it. Its early converts 
seem never to have gained sufficient strength to form a Church. 
The Alogi, who were very prominent Antimontanists, made it 
one of their strongest arguments against the authority of the 
Apocalypse, that there was no Church at Thyatira. They 
lived in Asia Minor towards the end of the second century, and 
were in a position to know. Controversialists of those days 
were very acute. If there had been a Church at Thyatira, we 
should have heard something about it. But the statement of 
the Alogi remains to this day uncontested. 

Again, take the case of Laodicea. This Church is assumed to 
be the worst of the seven, so bad, indeed, that our Lord threatens 
to vomit it out of His mouth (R. iii. 16). As it happens, we know 
more about this Church than any other, because it rose to be a 
well organised and zealous Church, in fact, the Primatial Church 
of the District. Eusebius mentions it frequently. It has left 
its mark upon history, and all that we know of it leads to the 
conclusion that it was one of the best Churches of the Seven. 

Putting all these facts together we will do well to range our- 
selves with the early Church in considering these Letters as 
symbolical. If they symbolise the Christian Church in its seven 
- ages, then their meaning is clear, and this forecast of Church 
history splendidly accurate. For example, Thyatira, the middle 
Church of the seven, becomes the Church of the Middle Ages, 
and its Letter depicts its condition and trials accurately, with the 
far-seeing eye of prophecy. 

How comes it then that these Letters were addressed to the 
Seven Churches of Asia? S. John had a prophetic revelation 
to make to the “ Angels,’ or chief Bishops of the Christian 


108 | THE REVELATION 


Church of the future. That Church he foresaw was divisible ~ 
into seven periods, each requiring a separate message of warning. 
The problem was an extremely difficult one. The chief thing to 
be avoided in warning the Churches of the future was to give them 
names that would rivet attention on local Churches. If the 
Letters had been addressed to the leading Churches of S. John’s 
time, Jerusalem, Rome or Antioch, for example, it would be 
difficult to escape the conclusion that they were intended for 
those Churches. The system adopted, of giving the Churches 
the names of the cities met with in sequence on the Roman 
road circulating in S. John’s district, was so obviously conven- 
tional, that it would tend to dissipate the idea that the Letters 
were meant for the local Churches. If these cities had names 
corresponding in a way with the chief characteristics of the 
Churches of the future, that was an advantage. If the local 
Churches named, were to work out a record unlike that of 
Revelation addressed to them, and were to be extinguished in 
the Middle Ages, that would bean additional advantage. They 
could not then be mistaken for the Churches of Revelation. 
We know the prophetic warnings concerning them follow the 
analogy of the prophecies of the Old Law as regards mysterious- 
ness. And we know also that we are warned at the end of each 
Letter to study them deeply, as a mystery to be unravelled, for 
that is the meaning of “ He that hath an ear, let him hear what 
the Spirit saith to the Churches.” 

The question arises, how would the followers of S. John and 
the servants of God, in his own day, take the Letters? They 
were men who knew Greek, but thought in Hebrew. They 
appreciated the esoteric character of the whole Book, and 
would be prepared to take the Letters as symbolic. Besides 
they knew the condition of the Churches named, how they were 
recently formed, immature Churches, without any special 
history, in some places without chief bishops corresponding to 
the Angels of the Churches. They knew also the conditions of 
the cities, how they were pagan cities in which the idolatries 
and vices of Greece and Rome were unhappily blended. 
Practically the Christians in all those cities were subject to the 
same environment and the same temptations. One circular 
letter would have sufficed for them all. It is commonly believed 
that S. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, was, in fact, a circular 
letter to the local Churches. “The words, ἐν ’Edéo@, in the 
first verse of the Epistle do not belong to the primitive text” 
(P. Ladeuze, Ephesians in Cath. Encyc.). This Epistle, written 
probably about A.D. 62, does not moreover correspond in any way 
with the Revelation Letters of A.D. 67. 

A very curious thing happened to S. Paul, not many years 


THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA τορ 


before the Letters appeared, which would in a manner have pre- 
pared the brethren to question the importance of the Seven 
Churches of Asia. 

When S. Paul and Barnabas went forth to preach to the 
Gentiles, having “passed through Phrygia, and the country 
of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Ghost to preach 
the word of God in Asia. And when they were come into 
Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia: and the spirit of 
Jesus permitted them not ” (Acts xvi. 6, 7). 

This very startling incident in the history of the early Church 
had been reported to the “brethren” at Jerusalem. It was 
well known to all. And there must have been some speculation 
amongst them as to the reason why S. Paul was turned away 
from the country of the Seven Churches of Asia. A mysterious 
mark was placed against those Churches. It was a mystery to 
the brethren, and it prepared them for the mystery of the 
Churches. ... τὸ μυστήριον ... Tas ἑπτὰ λυχνίας (R. 1. 20). 

The brethren knew that the Letters were symbolical. But it 
is not probable that they understood their true significance, 
excepting those to whom the Book was sent—S. Simeon of 
een. and 5. Paul at Rome. Could 5. John explain to the 

rethren that the local Churches, from Ephesus to Laodicea, in 
which they were zealously labouring, were destined to fall into 
heresy and decay? Could he reveal the heresies of the future 
tothem? Could he tell them of the Moslem Power that would 
destroy these Churches in the middle ages, not only the 
Churches, but the great cities of Ephesus and Laodicea? The 
curiosity of the Brethren once aroused would prompt these and 
a host of other questions. 

There is no evidence that S. John told anyone about the 
meaning of the Letters. The most illuminating incident in the 
history of these Letters is furnished by the attitude of the local 
Churches, from Ephesus to Laodicea, towards them. A cele- 
brated Council of the Church was held at Laodicea in the year 
360, when these Churches had attained their full development. 
It was attended by the Bishops of Asia Minor, amongst them 
the Angels or Bishops of the Seven Churches to whom these 
Letters were addressed. They had ample time to study the 
connection between the Letters and the Churches. An oppor- 
tunity was then afforded them of showing how they valued the 
Letters. They dropped the whole Book of Revelation, Letters 
and all, out of the Canon of the Scriptures. The Apocalypse of 
S. John does not appear in Canon 60 of the Synod of Laodicea 
(C. 3, 606). The meaning of that is plain. The men on the 
spot, who had the best means of testing the Letters, and who 
from their position as Bishops of the local Churches, were 


110 THE REVELATION 


bound to examine the question reverently and closely, came - 
to the conclusion that the Letters were not intended for the 
Churches. These Letters are a Christian Prophecy comparable 
to that given to the Jews by the Prophets of the Old Law. 
So far as the Church is concerned the Letters are the most 
important part of the whole Book of Revelation. The events 
foretold in the Jewish theme, the Roman theme, and the 
millennium have passed away. But the Letters to Philadelphia 
and Laodicea concern the present generation. 

The Letters are drawn up on a common sevenfold plan, 
comprehensive in character. They are the only portion of the 
Book, dictated to S. John, word by word, by God. 

First. They are addressed to the Angels or bishops of the 
Churches, in prophetic style. 

Second. They are introduced by some very significant 
attribute, taken from the vision of our Lord in the Preface. 

Third. Every Letter continues, “I know thy works” or 
“thy labours,” or some other distinguishing character of the 
Church addressed. 

Fourth. The chief characteristics of the Church, good or bad, 
are briefly outlined. 

Fifth. Praise or blame is meted out to the Churches, and 

‘rewards or punishments are predicted for them. 

Sixth. The Churches are exhorted to do penance or hold 
fast the faith they have received. 

Seventh. Every Letter ends thus, ‘‘ He that hath an ear let 
him hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches.” 


VI 
THE PLAN AND SYMBOLISM OF REVELATION 


TuHeE Revelation of S. John is divisible naturally into seven 
parts. 1. The Preface. 2. The Letters to the Seven Churches. 
3. The Jewish Theme. 4. The Roman Theme. 5. The Mil- 
lennium and final struggles of the Church. 6. The Judgment. 
7. Paradise. It ends with an Epilogue. 

Part I. Consists of the Title Page of the Book; its general 
preface and a special preface to the Letters to the Seven 
Churches. (Chapter I.) 

Part II. Contains the Letters to the Angels of the Seven 
Churches. (Chapters II. and III.) 

Part III. Relates chiefly to the Jews. It has interludes, as 
will be seen from the following synopsis of its Chapters. 

Chapter IV. Vision of the throne of God. The Jewish 
prophecies are contained in a book with Seven Seals. 

Ch. V. The first four seals are opened disclosing our Lord 
as a Conqueror, followed by war, famine, pestilence, and death. 
We are invited to notice that these are the active agents of 
God’s wrath in the following Chapters of the Book. 

Ch. VI. The fifth seal shows the martyrs crying to heaven 
for vengeance. They are told to wait till their roll 1s complete. 
Then follows the Sixth Seal, a vision of the completion of the 
martyrs’ roll. 

Ch. VII. An interlude in which Hebrew Christians are pro- 
tected by the sign of the Cross from the vengeance which is 
about to fall upon the Jews. 

Ch. VIII. The Seventh Seal relates to vengeance upon the 
Jews. From it proceed seven woe trumpets. The first four 
trumpets bring dire calamities upon the Jews. . 

Ch. IX. The fifth trumpet looses the spirits of the bottom- 
less pit upon the Jews. Then follows a vision of vengeance 
upon Rome, contained in the sixth trumpet. 

Ch. X. Continues the Roman interlude. S. John is given 
a little open book and is told to digest its contents, and to 
Ἐ μον about many nations and peoples and tongues and 

ings. 


111 


112 THE REVELATION 


Ch. XI. Takes us back to Jerusalem, where two witnesses 
appear and exhort the Jews to repentance. They are slain. 
An earthquake destroys the city. The Seventh Angel sounds 
his trumpet, and the end of the Jewish Covenant is indicated. 

Part IV. Cesar worship and the punishment of Rome. 

Ch. XII. The Roman theme begins with a preface of its 
own—a vision of the Church as a woman in labour, and Satan, 
the dragon, trying to destroy her. The woman is saved and 
Satan departs to make war on the rest of her seed. 

Ch. XIII. A Beast arises from the sea, typifying the Roman 
Empire. The dragon gives him his own strength and power. 
A lamb-like beast, typical of the pagan hierarchy, arises from 
the earth, and makes the earth worship the Beast, whose 
number is 666. 

Ch. XIV. The martyrs appear in heaven rejoicing. Their 
cry for vengeance on Rome is heard. Angels proclaim the 
hour of judgment on Rome. The Son of Man appears with a 
sickle. The harvest of the pagan Empire is reaped, and the 
winepress of God’s wrath is trodden down and overflows with 
blood. 

Ch. XV. Seven angels appear with the seven last plagues 
of God’s wrath upon Rome. The martyrs sing a song of 
triumph. 

Ch. XVI. The vials of God’s wrath are poured out upon 
men having the mark of the Beast, upon the’ Beast, and upon 
his throne. They blaspheme God, and repent not. The Dragon, 
the Beast, and the False-prophet, collect armies for a final 
effort, the battle of Armagedon. 

Ch. XVII. One of the seven angels explains the meaning of 
the symbols. The woman, “ Babylon” is Rome; the Beast is 
the line of Cesar Gods, particularly Nero; and the horns of 
the Beast are Kings who shall destroy Rome. 

Ch. XVIII. A glorious angel proclaims the fall of Rome. 
A picture of the burning and desolation of Rome follows. 
Heaven, the apostles and prophets are told to rejoice because 
God has executed His judgment on Rome. 

Ch. XIX. The martyrs rejoice, because the Church is free. 
The Church appears as a bride. Heaven is opened and the 
Lord and His army ride forth to the battle of Armagedon. 
The Beast and the False prophet are taken and cast into hell. 

Part V. The Millennium and afterwards. 

Ch. XX. Satan is chained up for a thousand years, and then 
loosed for “a little time.” He causes the nations to surround 
“the camp of the saints” and “the beloved city.’ He is cast 
down to hell and his armies destroyed. 

Part VI. The General Judgment. 


PLAN AND SYMBOLISM OF REVELATION 113 


Ch. XX. Verses 11 to 15. 

Part VII. The New Jerusalem. 

Ch. XXI. and Ch. XXII. Verses 1-5. 
Epilogue. 

Ch.eXXII. Verses 6 to 21. 


Viewed in this synoptic form the Book is easily understood. 
It will be noticed that the Chapters formed by Cardinal 
Stephen Langton about seven hundred years ago agree, as a 
rule, with the divisions of the Book. 

The Seven Parts of the Book, although separate in detail, 

are united by threads of continuation running through them 
all. The promises made to the Angels of the Seven Churches 
in the beginning of the Book are repeated towards the end. 
The throne of God in Chapter IV. which forms the preface 
to the General Revelation, is shown to be in permanent 
session throughout the action of the Book. Angels come and 
go from it, to execute the commands of God. There is a 
distinct verbal connection too. The same words and expres- 
sions are used in different parts of the Book, to show that they 
relate to the same events. This is better seen in the original 
Greek than in translations. Examples of this will be found in 
the exegesis. To give one value to one and the same word is a 
leading principle of hermeneutics. 
_ The greater part of the Book is written in a cypher of 
symbolism derived from the Old Testament, which forms its 
code. In a general way it may be said that the esoteric 
meaning of the Book can be discovered by following up its 
O.T. references. 

It has been shown in the Biography of S. John that the 
Roman invasion of Judea, the Neronian persecution, and Cesar 
worship, were the principal subjects heavily weighing on his 
mind when he went to Patmos. The synopsis of Revelation 
given above, shows that they formed the leading themes of 
his Book. The Jewish theme and the Roman theme neces- 
sarily contained many political allusions to Rome, some of 
which certainly would be considered treasonable. 

The Book needed a cypher known to the Servants of God 
alone, to keep it from recoiling on the heads of its friends. 
The symbolic style of the prophets Isaias, Jeremias, Ezechiel, 
and Daniel, formed a vehicle of communication exactly suited 
to the occasion. 

Dr. Swete says: 


“The writer of the New Testament Apocalypse has made large 
use of the Apocalyptic portions of the Old Testament. He refers to 
the Book of Daniel in some forty-five places . . . and the Books of 

8 


itd THE REVELATION 


Isaias, Ezechiel, and Zacharias are used with almost equal frequency, 
while other prophets, the Psalter and the Pentateuch are often in 
view. No book in the New Testament is so thoroughly steeped 
in the thought and imagery of the Hebrew Scriptures” (Of. cit. liii.). 


Westcott and Hort have calculated that of 405 verses*in the 
Apocalypse, 265 contain Old Testament language, and there 
are 500 references to the same Scriptures in the Book. 

Amos, Joel, and Osee, are laid under contribution, and 
there are references to Genesis and Exodus. 

The prophets of the Old Law foretold the woes of the people 
of Israel for their constant relapses into idolatry, symbolised as 
harlotry. They are full of the symbolic vocabulary of punish- 
ments in store for the Jews, and for the Gentiles, especially the 
Babylonians. This language lent itself admirably to the 
purpose of S. John, whose Jewish and Roman themes deal 
with the punishment of the Jews and Romans. 

But the prophets of the Old Law uttered many predictions 
which were in process of fulfilment when the Revelation was 
written. S. John shows great care in selecting extracts from 
the O.T. with the double object of explaining the context of his 
Book, and showing forth the fulfilment of prophecies. 

It was S. John’s aim to gather the prophecies of the Old 
Law, and focus them on the event and prove that the things fore- 
told by the prophets came literally true. A part of his object 
in writing the Apocalypse was to demonstrate the truth of the 
Messianic prophecies, which all hang together, whether they 
relate to the Messias, to His kingdom, or to the extinction of 
the old Judaism. If the prophets foretold truly the destruction 
of Jerusalem, they were inspired by God in all things, throughout. 

S. John’s plan was to write the Book of Revelation as a con- 
tinuation of the Prophecy of Daniel, from the point where it 
broke off,and was closed and sealed. Daniel’s prophecy related to 
the destruction of the Temple. That was known to the Hebrew 
Servants of God. When the Apostles asked our Lord about 
the destruction of the Temple, He answered, “ When there- 
fore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was 
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy place... 
then they that are in Judza let them flee to the mountains” 
(Matt. xxiv. 15 f.). When Daniel heard, “And when the 
scattering of the band of the holy people shall be accomplished, 
all these things shall be finished,” he wanted to know more, 
and was answered, “‘ Go, Daniel, because the words are shut up, 
and sealed until the appointed time” (Dan. xii. 9). This 
abrupt and tantalising ending of the prophecy: of Daniel had 
prepared the Apostles for another prophecy, breaking the seals, 
when the time appointed should arrive. That time had come. 


PLAN AND SYMBOLISM OF REVELATION τις 


Rome had declared war on the Jews, and her legions were on 
the way to Jerusalem. . What could be more appropriate than 
to throw the second and supplementary prophecy into the form 
of a sealed book, of which the seals should be broken one by 
one, as a continuation of the prophecy of Daniel ? 

It was not only appropriate itself and enlightening to the 
Servants of God, to whom the Revelation was sent, but it 
struck at once the note of O.T. symbolism which forms the 
key to the cypher of the Apocalypse. 

The prophecy of Daniel looked beyond the fall of the 
Temple, and foresaw the rise of the New Kingdom of Christ. 
As that shrewd exegete, John Henry Newman, pointed out, 
Daniel foretold the kingdom. 


** Nay holy Daniel himself is in no small measure employed on this 
very subject. He it is who announces a fifth kingdom like ‘a stone 
cut without hands,’ which broke in pieces and consumed all former 
kingdoms, but was itself to ‘stand for ever.’... He saw in the night 
visions, and behold one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of 
heaven and came to the Ancient of Days, and there was given to Him 
dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations, and lan- 
guages should serve Him” (‘‘ Essays Crit. and Hist.,” vol. ii. p. 174). 


The reader will find loud echoes of these prophecies of 
Daniel reverberating through the Revelation of S. John. 

The woe trumpets of the Jewish theme lead up to the 
proclamation of the Kingdom. When the seventh trumpet 
sounded, “‘there were great voices in heaven saying, The 
Kingdom of this world is become our Lord’s and his Christ’s, 
and he shall reign for ever and ever, Amen” (R. xi. 15). We 
are told previously that when the seventh angel “shall begin to 
sound the trumpet, the mystery of God shall be finished, as he has 
declared by his servants the prophets” (R. x. 7). That mystery 
had reference to the destruction of the Temple and the King- 
dom of Christ. These passages show the close connection 
between these events in S. John’s mind. And they show the 
period of his Book, viz., not long before the fall of the Temple 
of Jerusalem, which synchronised with the rise of the Kingdom 
of Christ. S. John was chosen as the prophet of the New Law 
when our Lord said, “ So I will have him to remain till I come”’ 
(Jhn. xxi. 22). The mantle of the prophet Daniel fell upon him. 
An angel addresses him in the Book as “thy fellow servant and 
of thy brethren, the prophets” (R. xxii. g). And he says to 
him, “ Seal not the words of the prophecy of this book, for the 
time is at hand” (R. xxii. 10). Thus contrasting the prophecy 
of S. John with that of Daniel in words pregnant with mean- 
ing, taken from Daniel’s prophecy. 


or THE REVELATION 


The Book of Daniel was not concerned with the fall of the 
Roman Empire. It was necessary therefore before beginning 
the Roman theme, to provide another book, from which to draw 
the thread of narrative. This is done by introducing a little 
open book at Chapter X., in an interlude, before the close of 
the Jewish theme 

The Roman theme, as dwelling much on Cesar worship and 
the decline of Rome, has a closer veil of symbolism than the 
rest of the Book. But it is of the same Scriptural type. 

The most important symbols in the Book are clearly ex- 
plained, viz., the Seven Candlesticks and the Seven Stars. In 
the Roman theme an angel explains to S. John and, through 
him, to us, the meaning of many of the chief symbols. The 
leading character in the Roman theme, Nero, is as strongly and 
clearly portrayed as is compatible with a cypher. The names 
of the chief localities in Revelation, as Jerusalem and Rome, 
are stamped upon them by distinguishing marks (R. xi., 8, 
Xvil. 5,9, 18). From time to time the saints and martyrs in 
the standing vision of the Court of Heaven, by their prayers 
and hymns, throw a strong side-light on the nature and progress 
of events. They fulfil the office of the chorus in Greek drama. 

There is also a symbolism of numbers. 

The number seven is largely used in the Old Testament as a 
complete number, fully satisfying the mind as regards the 
context. It does not mean literally seven. Take the case of 
the seven days of creation in Genesis. It does not mean only 
seven days. It means the number of days required. The 
Holy Scriptures neither retrospectively nor prophetically give 
exact information as to numbers which correspond with dates. 
Professor Moses Stuart points out in his Commentary on the 
Apocalypse (of. cit. vol. 11. p. 425) that the gods of the ancients 
were threefold, that a trinity was a sacred form. Three stood 
for the divine power, the creator, and four for the created— 
north, south, east, and west; the four corners of the earth; 
spring, summer, autumn, and winter; the four elements—earth, 
air, fire, and water. Seven, formed from the union of the divine 
three and created four, stood for completeness, amplitude, or 
universality, especially in a religious sense. 

S. Augustine says the number seven signifies the union of 
God with creation (Civ. Dei. xi. 31). The Jews were especially 
sensible of the import of the number seven. Not only the 
Sabbath day was sacred, but every seventh month. Every 
seventh year was the Sabbatical year in which cultivation was 
forbidden. Seven times seven was their Jubilee year. 

We shall find seven often occurring in the Book of Revelation, 
as in the seven seals, the seven trumpets, the seven vials, and. 


PLAN AND SYMBOLISM OF REVELATION 117 


the seven thunders. The number seven stands for the totality 
of the things concerned, by no means limited to seven. 

Three and a half has also a mysterious significance, as we 
gather from the missionary life and death of our Lord, as related 
in the Gospels. It was the period of the Jewish War, and it was 
the period of Nero’s persecution. Both of these latter events are 
alluded to in the Apocalypse by this symbolism of time. Three 
and a half is not to be taken strictly ; it means more than three 
and less than four. 

Again, ten as a Scriptural number does not mean precisely 
ten. It is the sum of the digits of both hands, the basis of 
notation. It exhausts that basis and stands for a series of at 
least ten. In the Revelation we have the ten days of tribulation 
(ΕΚ. il. 10), and the ten Kings (R. xvii. 12). It follows that a 
thousand, which is a multiple of ten, is not strictly limited to 
that figure. It may mean more than a thousand; but it is not 
an indefinite period, as in 2 Pet. iii. 8. 

Every word in the Apocalypse has a definite meaning. A 
thousand years is put in the Book of Revelation for the period 
of expansion of the Church, after the fall of the Roman Empire, 
and we know from history that that period, called the Middle 
Ages, lasted about a thousand years. 

The number twelve and multiples of twelve occur often in 
the Jewish theme and in the description of Paradise. The con- 
nection of these numbers with the twelve tribes of Israel and 
the twelve Apostles is made manifest by the context. 

The events predicted in the Book are placed in their correct 
historic perspective. -Nero’s persecution began in the year 64 
and ended in the year 68, hence the seals of the martyrs come 
first (R. vi. 9-17). The Jewish cataclysm began in 66 and ended 
A.D. 70. It is taken next (R. viii. 1 to ix. 12). After the death 
of Nero, the wars of Galba, Otho, Vitellus and Vespasian, 
deluged Rome with blood and carried fire and sword into the 
Capital A.D. 68-69. Accordingly the Jewish theme is interrupted, 
and we get a vision of the slaughter of Roman armies 
(R. ix. 13-21). Then Titus besieged Jerusalem, and we get a 
picture of the fall of Jerusalem (R. xi. I-15), after which comes 
the fall of the Roman Empire (R. xiii.-xix.). Then the thousand 
years of the middle ages and a glimpse of later times. Then 
the Day of Judgment (R. xx.). . 

The visions of Revelation are linked together from first to 
last, not only in subject, but in minor details, by close and 
accurate workmanship. They reveal the careful labours of a 
mind filled with knowledge, conveying to others, by means of 
symbolism, the Divine message of Revelation. There is 
evidence in the Book, that 5. John had some freedom in its 


118 THE REVELATION 


composition. He was told to write a book about his visions 
with special commands to write in it certain things (Rev. i. 11, 
x. II, xiv. 13, xix. 9, xxi. 5). The Letters to the Seven 
Churches alone were dictated by God. It places them on 
majestic heights. 

The Seer of the first century saw and described correctly, as 
history testifies, the relations of the Church with the world, 
through a period of over eighteen hundred years. That is proof 
sufficient of the Divine Authorship of Revelation. The value of 
the eschatological revelations in the Book, in Chapters iii. and 
ΧΧ., may now be appreciated. 


VII 
THE TEXT 


THE original MS. of the Apocalypse was written by S. John 
on papyrus paper, in Greek uncials, or capital letters, without 
stops or breathings. 

Papyrus paper was made from the Egyptian “ paper-reed.”’ 
Manuscripts of the Apostolic Age were written on this material 
with a reed, dipped in cuttle fish ink, or other colouring matter. 
Pliny tells us that the stem of the reed, consisting of pith 
enclosed in a hard rind, was sliced into long strips, which were 
placed on a board, in two layers, one at right angles to the 
other. The sheets so formed were then soaked in Nile water, 
till soft, when they were pressed together and dried in the sun. 
The writing surface was then smoothed and polished with 
ivory or shell. The paper reed grew freely, and was cultivated 
commercially, on the delta of the Nile, where papyrus paper 
was almost exclusively manufactured (Pliny, N. H. xiii. 11, 13). 
It has been estimated that the Apocalypse would cover a roll of 
papyrus fifteen feet in length (Kenyon, Text Crit. p. 30). To 
form this length several pieces were pasted together and rolled 
on a staff. Such a “ book ” unrolled and let go, would by elastic 
reaction, roll up again. When S. John wrote, ‘and the 
heavens withdrew as a book rolled up together” (R. vi. 14), he 
had in his mind the book under his hand. These things have 
to be borne in mind in considering the question whether S. John 
wrote the Apocalypse during his visions, or afterwards. Of 
that more, hereafter, in the Commentary. 

Papyrus paper became dry and brittle with age. It had to 
be unrolled and pinned down for the convenience of readers and 
copyists. It soon perished. No papyrus copies of the Apoca- 
lypse have come down to our time. The papyri of our museums 
were preserved in the tombs of Egypt, the ruins of Herculaneum, 
and like resting places. Our oldest existing copies of the 
Apocalypse are on parchment or vellum, and date from about 
the end of the fourth century. 

Considering that the Apocalypse was addressed to the 
Hebrew Servants of God in the first century, who spoke 

110 


120 THE REVELATION 


Aramaic, one may ask, Why was it written in Greek? That, _ 
like its Hebraic cypher, was probably a measure of taba ἢ 

Greek was used as the official language of the early Church. 
Rome was the enemy. As the catacombs shielded the bodies 
of the early Christians from persecution at the hands of Rome, 
so the Greek language shielded their intimate thoughts from 
Roman inquisition. The Apostles took the Greek language 
with them to Rome. S. Paul wrote his Epistles to the Romans 
and to the Hebrews in Greek. S. Mark wrote his Gospel in 
Rome, for the Romans, in Greek. The ritual of the early 
Church was Greek. Sowere the inscriptions in the Catacombs 
of Rome. The great majority of the Roman Christians were 
poor persons, ignorant of Greek, yet the Church of Rome held to 
the official use of Greek until the days of persecution were over. 

The literary quality of the Greek of the Apocalypse, we have 
seen, is peculiar. It reveals a mind well stored with Greek, but 
too strongly charged with Hebrew thought to give that Greek 
classical expression. It is evident that S. John had not been 
long in Hellenised Asia Minor when he wrote his Book. 
Moreover he was intent on infusing the Revelation with a 
current of Hebrew thought and symbolism, taken from the 
O.T., wherewith to convey his message to the Servants of God, 
unnoticed by pagan readers. 

The unbroken series of Greek uncials which originally com- 
posed the Book was divided by Andreas, in the sixth century, 
into seventy-two κεφάλαια, or “ headings.” Stephen Langton, 
Archbishop of Canterbury, gave us our present chapters. The 
versification of the Book dates from the era of the printing 
press and follows the stichometry, or lines, of the MSS. copies. 
Bearing in mind the vague and often fanciful exegesis of former 
times, it is wonderful how closely, chapter and verse accommo- 
date themselves to the new meanings which have been found in 
Revelation. No one, however, claims that the modern Book is 
perfect in these respects. 

Three MSS. of the Apocalypse have come down to us in the 
original Greek uncials. The Codex Sinaiticus—symbol &. This 
is written on parchment without accents or breathings, only 
occasional points. In all probability it is as old as the time of 
S. Jerome. The Codex Alexandrinus—symbol A. It is written 
on parchment and dates from about the fifth century. The 
Codex Ephraemi—symbol C. Also fifth century, and very 
imperfect. Chapters ii., iv., vi., xil., xiv., XV., XVl., XVil., XX., 
ΧΧΙ., and xxii., are missing, and the rest fragmentary. ; 

Besides the above, there are Greek Commentaries extant and 
quotations from the Apocalypse in the writings of the early 
Fathers of the Church, | 


THE TEXT ; ἘΠ 


In Latin we have the Codex Amiatinus—symbol Am—written 
stichometrically in uncials, without punctuation, on leaves of 
vellum. It is believed to have been made in Northumberland 
at the beginning of the 8th Century, and it is supposed to be 
derived from some old Latin copy, possibly the Itala, through 
the Codex Grandior of Cassiodorus, c. A.D. 540. This Codex 
was taken to Rome by Ceolfrid and presented to Pope 
Gregory II. about the year 720. It is considered by Catholic 
theologians that it gives the best rendering of the Hebrew and 
Greek Scriptures generally. It was decreed by the Council of 
Trent to be the authentic and official Latin version of the Bible. 
It is the original of the Vulgate. 

There is also a Syriac version of the Apocalypse, lately 
printed by Dr. Gwynn, Regius Professor of Divinity, T.C.D., 
which dates from the beginning of the 6th Century. 

Latin Commentaries by Primasius and other writers have 
come down to us. 

The present Commentary is based upon a Greek version 
prepared by Frederic Brandscheid, a German Catholic, who 
produced it in 1893. It is practically a recension of the oldest 
and best codices, collated with the texts of Tischendorf, 
Westcott and Hort, and other scholars. It has the approval of 
the Bishop of Fribourg and is dedicated to Pope Leo XIII. 

Dr. Swete of Cambridge in his book on the Apocalypse, has 
printed a Greek text which he prepared from a collation of 
Westcott and Hort with Tischendorf, Gregory’s prolegomena, 
Dr. Gwynn’s Syriac versions, and two Athos minuscules. 
These two Greek texts agree generally with each other and 
with the Latin Vulgate, showing that the Apocalypse has been 
remarkably well preserved. Where the Vulgate occasionally 
differs from the Greek, Brandscheid follows the Vulgate, which 
he holds in great veneration. What slight differences there are 
between Dr. Swete and Brandscheid are shown in notes, in 
which 8. stands for Swete, and Bd. for Brandscheid; Vg., the 
recognised symbol, stands for the Vulgate. 

The Latin text is not printed in this book. There is no need 
to print it in full, as it is faithfully reflected in the English 
version, attached to the Greek. The English version is taken 
from the Rey. Geo. L. Haydock’s Douay Bible, published in 
1852, and from Richard Coyne, Maynooth Douay Bible, 
published in 1829. One supplements the other. For instance 
Haydock omits the word “‘ flying” at R. iv. 7, “like to an eagle 
flying ’—Vg. Aquile volanti. Coyne’s version supplies it. 
But, the differences between the versions, Greek, Latin, and 
English, are unimportant. 


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COMMENTARY 


PART I 
PREFACE TO THE REVELATION 


CHAPTER I 


1. ᾿Αποκάλυψις Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ, ἣν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς 
δεῖξαι τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ ἃ δεῖ γενέσθαι ἐν τάχει, καὶ 
ἐσήμανεν ἀποστείλας διὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλον αὐτοῦ τῷ δούλῳ 
αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννῃ. 


1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to make 
known to his servants the things which must shortly come to pass, and 
signified sending by his angel to his servant John. 


᾿Αποκάλυψις is a Greek word which means a revelation of the 
future. It is used in this sense by S. Paul 2 Cor. xii. 1, and 
eschatologically, in Rom. ii. 5. 

This reading is confirmed by R.1i. 3 and xxii. 10, in which 
the Revelation is referred to as “the words of this prophecy.” 
At R. xxii. 9, an angel says I am “. . . of them who keep the 
words of the prophecy of this book.’”’ And at R. xxii. 18, 19, a 
solemn warning is issued against tampering with “ the prophecy 
of this book” and “the book of this prophecy.” The Apoca- 
lypse, or “ Revelation,” is a prophecy, in the sense of a pre- 
diction of Jesus Christ. That is its first note. 

“Which God gave to him to make known to his servants,” 
follows the teaching of the Gospel of S. John in which the Son 
derives revelation from the Father (Jhn. v. 20, vii. 16, viii. 28). 

“ΤῸ make known to his servants,” raises the question who 
were the Servants of God. Much light is thrown on this point 
by the Revelation, and especially by the concluding words of 
this passage, “his servant John.’’ S. John is given to us as an 
example of the individuals meant by “servants.” The Apostles 
commonly used this title. The Second Epistle of S. Peter 
begins, “Simon Peter, Servant and Apostle of Jesus Christ.” 


5. Paul’s Epistle to Titus begins, “ Paul a servant of God, and 
123 


124 THE REVELATION 


an Apostle of Jesus Christ.’”” These two great Apostles make - 
“servant ”’ their first title. See also Philippians and Romans 
(i. 1). The Catholic Epistle of S. James begins, “ James the 
Servant of God and of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” That of 
S. Jude begins, a λῶν the Servant of Jesus Christ.” In 
R. x. 7, there is reference to “ His Servants, the prophets,” 
a very common phrase in the O.T. At R. xix. τὸ an “ Angel,” 
who is also a prophet (R. xxii. g), declares himself to be a 
fellow servant of John. The dignity of the expression survives 
in the title of the Popes, who style themselves officially, “ The 
Servant of the servants of God”’ (see Jhn. xv. 20). 

The Revelation was not sent to everybody in the Church, in 
the year 67. It was, for grave reasons, confined to the safe 
hands of the Servants of God, who were men of Apostolic 
character, leaders of the Church. The denunciation of Ceasar 
worship, and the political forecasts of the Roman Empire 
required this precaution. The immediate object of the Book 
was to reveal the fate of Jerusalem and Rome to the servants 
of God. “The things which must shortly come to pass,” 
were the fall of Nero in a.p. 68, and the fall of Jerusalem and 
the out-standing of the Kingdom of Christ in a.D. 70. It does 
not mean that everything foretold in the Book must shortly 
happen. Though it does mean that the chief predictions of the 
Book would begin to come to pass quickly. The death of Nero 
was followed by Civil wars of opposing Imperators, which led 
to the crumbling of the Empire. 

“ And signified sending by his Angel to his Servant John.” 
Prof. M. Stuart points out that ἐσήμανεν, “ signified,” is derived 
from σῆμα -- σήμειον a “sign” or “symbol” indicating symbolic 
representation. An angel appears and interprets the symbolic 
visions at R. xvii. I and xix. Io. 

This angel seems to have been S. John the Baptist. We 
read in the Gospel of S. John, “‘ There was a man sent from 
God whose name was John. This man came for a witness to 
give testimony of the light” (Jhn. i. 6, 7). He preached the 
gospel of penance ‘for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand 
(Matt. 111. 1), Behold I send my angel before thy face” 
(Mark i. 2). He is referred ‘to at R. xxii. 16, “1, Jesus, have » 
sent my angel.” And he declares himself to be a fellow servant 
of S. John, and one of his brethren the prophets (R. xix. 10, 
xxil. g). S. John recognises him apparently as his old teacher, 
the Baptist, and falls down before him. 

When Epiphanius wrote “The disciples of Christ being 
warned by an angel, fled to Pella,’ he seems to have had 
R. i. I in view, That would explain his reference to 
Claudius. 


PREFACE TO THE REVELATION 125 


These opening lines form the title page of the Book. We 
might appreciate them better perhaps if they were displayed in 
accordance with modern custom, as thus: 


THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST 


WHICH 


GOD GAVE UNTO HIM, 


To make known to his servants the things which must shortly come to 
pass, and signified 


SENDING BY HIS ANGEL 
TO 
HIS SERVANT JOHN. 


Here we see at once the title of the Book, its source, its 
Author, its object, its subject, the Intermediary, and the Writer 
—John. 

The real title of the Book, ‘“‘ The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” 
commands our attention. 


ἃ 3 , Ν , A ~ A A ’ 
2. Ὃς ἐμαρτύρησεν τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν 
Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅσα εἶδεν. 


2. Who hath given testimony to the word of God, and the testimony of 
Jesus Christ, what things soever he hath seen. 


*Maprupetv—“ to bear witness ”—and paptupsa— evidence ”’ 
are words frequently found in the Apocalypse. S. John says of 
himself “ Who hath given testimony—’ Eyvaprupnoev—the aorist 
refers to the past. He gave testimony in the past “to the 
word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ,” by preaching 
and example, and by his Epistles, one or two of which were 
written before this time. ‘‘ What things soever he hath seen ”’ 
would seem to limit this testimony, to his knowledge of ‘ the 
word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” But μάρτυς--- « 
witness ’’—in the early Church also connoted suffering for the 
word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Hence the word 
“martyr” in English. 5. John had suffered many things at 
the hands of the Jews for the testimony of Jesus. He was 
scourged and imprisoned in common with the other Apostles. 
Writing to his intimate followers at Ephesus, S. John takes it 


126 THE REVELATION 


for granted that no one will question the testimony of John. - 
The brethren knew he was at Patmos, whence this Revelation 
came. Possibly they knew that he went there to receive it. 
(See R. I-g notes.) 

Our Lord said to the Apostles “ You shall be witnesses unto 
me "-ἔσεσθέ μοι waptupes—“. . . even to the uttermost parts of 
the earth” (Acts 1. 8). Dr. Swete remarks, “1 may be doubted 
whether the word μάρτυς had acquired a technical sense at the 
end of the first century” (Of. cit., p. 36). The doubt is greater 
in regard to the year 67. 


3. Μακάριος ὁ ἀναγινώσκων kal οἱ ἀκούοντες τοὺς λόγους 
τῆς προφητείας καὶ τηροῦντες τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ γεγραμμένα" ὁ γὰρ 
καιρὸς ἐγγύς. 


3. Blessed is he that readeth and heareth the words of this prophecy ; 
and keepeth those things which are written in it. For the time is at hand. 


There are many correspondences between the beginning and 
the end of Revelation. We have in the last chapter “ Blessed 
is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this Book ” 
(R. xxii. 7). “Avaywooxw means “ to recognise,’ “to dis- 
tinguish,” “‘to discern.” It does not mean ordinary reading. Our 
Lord addressing His Apostles with reference to the destruction 
of the Temple, said, “‘ When you shall see the abomination of 
desolation standing where it ought not, he that readeth let him 
understand” (Mark xiii. 14). Where the Greek for “he that 
readeth”’ is ὁ ἀναγινώσκων, precisely as above, meaning the in- 
terpretation of the signs of the coming fall of Jerusalem and the 
Empire. The fact that the angel sent to John, declared himself 
John’s fellow servant, ‘“‘and of those who keep the words of the 
prophecy of this Book” (R. xxii. 9), would seem to indicate 
that those “ who kept the words,” were a limited and exalted 
class. 

The Book is to a great extent a cryptograph, requiring labour 
and intelligence to discern its meaning. Hence, blessed are 
they who labour patiently to solve the mystery. ‘He that 
heareth”’ has an esoteric meaning, and refers to one who, by 
the exercise of reason, gets to know things recondite. “He 
that heareth,” is again referred to at R. xxii. 17, 18. And 
at the end of each of the Letters to the Seven Churches of 
Asia, we find, ‘‘He that hath an ear let him hear what the 
Spirit saith to the Churches.” (See R. ii. 7, notes.) 

The Book claims to bea Revelation of future events. Blessed 
are they who understand and keep this revelation in mind. 


PREFACE TO THE REVELATION 127 


Why? For the time is at hand. What time? The fall of 
the Temple of Jerusalem, the symbol of the Old Law, and the 
establishment of the Kingdom of Christ. This warning appears 
to have been addressed particularly to the leaders of the 
Nazarene Church, which was in danger. S. John uses the 
verb tnpéw, “to give heed to,” “to watch narrowly,” in his 
Gospel several times (viii. 51, xiv. 23), ¢g., “‘ Remember my 
word that I said to you .. . if they have kept my word they 
will keep yours also” (Jhn. xv. 20). 


3 td “A e > West ld A > a 3 ’ , 
4. Ἰωάννης ταῖς ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησίαις ταῖς ἐν τῇ ᾿Ασίᾳ: χάρις 
ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ ὁ ὧν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, καὶ 
ἀπὸ τῶν ἑπτὰ πνευμάτων ἃ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ. 


4. John to the seven churches which are in Asia. Grace be unto you 
and peace from him that is and that was, and that is to come, and from 
the seven spirits which are before his throne. 


S. John opens his address to the Seven Churches in the 
Apostolic Style.. Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ ... to the 
Church of God that is at Corinth, 2 Cor. i. 1, Gal. i. 1, 1 Th. i. r1, 
We have considered the meaning of the Seven Churches else- 
where. Seven is a mystic number and these are mystic 
Churches. In the N.T. Asia means Mysia, Lydia, Caria, Lycia, 
and Phrygia, which constituted Roman or Proconsular Asia, see 
Map, p. 102. “ From him that is and that was,” is from God 
the Father. In Exodus iii. 14 Moses enquiring by what name 
he should announce God to His people, is told, “1 am, who 
am.” “That is to come,” ὁ ἐρχόμενος, is a Hebraic usage. It 
refers to Jesus Christ. We have ἔρχομαι tayxd—“I come 
quickly,” at R. iii. 11, and R. xxii. 7, and ᾿Ιδοὺ épyetav—* Behold 
he cometh” at R. i. 7, and Ἰδοὺ ἔρχομαι---“ Behold I come” at 
R. xvi. 15. At the close of the Book, a kind of recapitulation 
occurs in which we find ᾿Ιδοὺ ἔρχομαι ταχύ at R. xxii. 7, again 
at R. xxii. 12, and again at R. xxii. 20. 

S. John invokes a blessing on the Church from the Father, 
Son, and from the Seven Spirits, where the Seven gifts of the 
Holy Spirit (Isa. xi. 2), are put for the Holy Spirit. S. John 
here affirms the doctrine of the Trinity. He lays stress on the 
coming of the Holy Spirit in his Gospel. ‘“ But the Paraclete, 
the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will 
teach you all things” (Jhn. xiv. 26). See also xiv. 16, 17, and 
xv. 26. The Seven Spirits are again referred to at R. iv. 5 
and v. 6. 


128 THE REVELATION 


5. Kai ἀπὸ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ μάρτυς 6 πιστός, ὁ Tpwro- - 
TOKOS “τῶν νεκρῶν καὶ ὁ ἄρχων τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς ᾿ τῷ 
ἀγαπῶντι ἡμᾶς καὶ λούσαντι ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν 
5 “ ν 3 A 
ἐν τῷ αἵματι αὐτοῦ. 


5. And from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, the first begotten 
of the dead, and the prince of the Kings of the earth, who hath loved us 
and washed us from our sins in his own blood. 


We must suppose a full stop at the end of the last verse. 
Kai—“ and ’—begins a new thought frequently in the Apoca- 
lypse ; which use of καὶ shows a Hebrew writer steeped in the 
O.T. scriptures. It goes back to continue and unfold “ The 
Revelation of Jesus Christ” (R. i. 1). 

“Thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people 
from their sins’ (Matt. i. 21). ‘‘ Christ,’’ is—“* the anointed.” 
O μάρτυς ὁ πιστός, the faithful witness, where waprus connotes 
witnessing for the faith by martyrdom. Accordingly we read, 

“‘who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own 
blood.”’ He washed away the stain of original sin, and opened 
the gates of heaven to the waiting saints of old. He descended 
into Limbo, and was the first to arise therefrom. Therefore is 
He, “the first begotten of the dead.” ‘Prince of the Kings 
of the earth’ ᾿πτἄρχων---“ chief over all.” ‘ Lord of Lords and 
King of Kings” (R. xvii. 14). This leads to the consideration 
of His Kingdom. 


6. Kai ἐποίησεν ἡμᾶς βασιλείαν, ἱερεῖς τῷ Θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ 
αὑτοῦ, αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν 
αἰώνων " ἀμήν. 

6. And hath made us a Kingdom and priests to God and his Father, to 
him be glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen. 


“The kingdom” comes into view. ‘And hath made us a 
kingdom and priests to God and his Father” marks the trans- 
ference of the promises of the Old Law to the Church of 
Christ. ‘‘And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests” 
(Ex. xix. 6). Under the Old Law the priesthood was confined 
to the tribe of Levi. Under the New Law, S. John of the 
tribe of Zabulon is made a priest. He is said to have worn, 
occasionally, the petalon of a high-priest. ‘‘ But you are a 
chosen generation, a royal priesthood” (1 Pet. ii. 9g). 8. John, 
writing to the Servants of God, reminds them that they are 


Ὺ 


PREFACE TO THE REVELATION 129 


priests. Another indication of their high position. ‘To God 
and his Father” recognises the Son, as God. Κράτος is from 
κρατεώ, “to be mighty,” “to conquer,” “to hold sway.” 
“‘For ever and ever” is a Hebrew phrase expressing endless 
time. 


/ 


> ὃ ‘ » ‘ ~ “A Ν » δεῖν 
7. Ἰδοὺ ἔρχεται μετὰ τῶν νεφελῶν, καὶ ὄψεται αὐτὸν 
Le) > Ν ‘ 9 rN > , \ / 
πᾶς ὀφθαλμὸς, Kat οἴτινες αὐτὸν ἐξεκέντησαν, Kal κόψονται 
3 “ »“ ~ 
ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς" val, ἀμήν. 


7. Behold he cometh with the clouds and every eye shall see him, and 
they also that pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth shall bewail 
themselves because of him. Even so. Amen. 


“ Behold he cometh with the clouds,” expands the phrase at 
R. i. 4, ‘‘that is to come.” Daniel says, “‘ One like the Son of 
Man came with the clouds of heaven” (vii. 13). “And they 
shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with 
great power and majesty” (Matt. xxiv. 30). It is made evident 
that the χάρις ὑμῖν, of R. 1. 4, comes from the Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost. 

There is reference to the day of Judgment here, when all the 
tribes of “the earth "---τῆς yijs—(denoting Antichristians in the 
Apocalypse) shall bewail themselves because of him. But 
especially those that pierced him—the Jews. This portends 
that the Jews will remain unconverted to the end. The con- 
nection between the writer of S. John’s Gospel and of the 
Apocalypse is seen here. In the Gospel we read “ One of the 
soldiers opened his side with a spear”’ (Jhn. xix. 34). 8. John 
stood by the cross and witnessed this deed, which he alone 
mentions. He identifies the Son of Man in His glorious second 
coming by this dreadful wound, and puts it to the account of 
the Jews. Notice his solicitude for the fulfilment of the O.T. 
Scriptures. ‘Again another Scripture saith they shall look on 
him whom they pierced” (Jhn. xix. 37). The other Scripture 
is found in Zach. xii. το. In the verse above we have vat, 
Greek, interpreted by ἀμήν, Hebrew. 

This passage is apparently epexegetical of R. i. 4. It does 
not indicate a speedy second coming. There is no word to 
that effect. It contrasts with the warning to the penultimate 
and last stages of the Christian Church. ‘Behold 1 come 
quickly”’ (ΕΚ. iii. 11). ‘‘ Behold I stand at the door and knock” 
(R. iii. 20). 

9 


130 THE REVELATION 


8. Ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ ἄλφα καὶ τὸ ὦ, ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος, λέγει. 
Κύριος ὁ Θεός, ὁ ὧν καὶ ὁ ἣν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ὁ παντο- 
κράτωρ. 


8. I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord 
God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. 


(S. omits ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος. Bd. follows the Vulgate “ prin- 
cipium et finis.” 

Aleph and Tau, the first and last letters of the Hebrew 
Alphabet, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew sacred 
ones “Truth ”—(Emoth), the Hebrew symbol of God. The 
Seer, writing in Greek, uses the first and last letters of the 
Greek alphabet, with a Hebrew meaning; as at R. xiii. 18 he 
uses Greek numerals with a Hebrew meaning. In the O.T we 
have, “I am the first and I am the last and besides me there is 
no God” (Isa. xliv. 6). The question arises whether God the 
Father is the speaker, here, or Jesus Christ. Κύριος, “ Lord,” 
is applied to both the Father and the Son in this Book. 
R, iv. 8, xi. 4, 8, xvii. 14, xix. 16, xxii. 20, 21. The Almighty, 

“ὁ παντοκράτωρ," recurs at R. iv. 8, xi. 17, XV. 3, XVI. 7, 14, 
and xix. 15, with reference to God the Father. And at R. xxi. 22, 
where we read, “For the Lord God Almighty is the lamp 
thereof and the Lamb.” On the other hand Christ says at 
R. i. 17, “1 am the first and the last,” and at R. xxi. 6, “Iam 
Alpha and Omega.” And at R. xxii. 13, “1 am Alpha and 
Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” 
‘OQ. epyopevos, “‘who is to come,’ seems to point to Christ as 
the speaker. He it is who makes known the Revelation to His 
servants. And the context preceding and following verse 8, 
supports this view. We shall find that the Seer throughout the 
Book maintains the equality of the Father and the Son. Hence 
the appellation, “the Almighty,” is consistent with the view 
that Jesus Christ is the speaker. 


9. ᾿Εγὼ Ἰωάννης, ὁ ἀδελφὸς ὑμῶν καὶ συνκοινωνὸς ἐν τῇ 
θλίψει καὶ βασιλείᾳ καὶ ὑπομονῇ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ἐγενόμην 
ἐν τῇ νήσῳ τῇ καλουμένῃ Πάτμῳ διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ 
τὴν μαρτυριάν Ἰησοῦ. 

I John your brother and sharer in tribulation, and in the Kingdom 


sag patience in Christ Jesus, was in the island which is called Patmos, for 
the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus. 


(S. omits Χριστῷ. Bad. follows the Vulgate.) 
S. John further discloses his identity and that of the person- 
ages to whom he sent his Book. A servant of God, he sent 


PREFACE TO THE REVELATION 131 


his Revelation to Servants of God (R. i. 1). And to priests 
(R. i. 6). He addresses them now as “ your brother and sharer 
in tribulation.” He had shared in the sufferings—Orgu— 
foretold for the Apostles (Jhn. xvi. 33). So had the brethren | 
he addressed. They are therefore men of Apostolic standing. 
@rtus, meaning “‘ pressure,” is put metaphorically for oppres- 
sion, and suffering. In this Book, it stands for persecution (see 
R. vii. 14). Tzrowov"n—* patience ”’—chimes with this thought. 
It is exemplified in the letter to the Apostolic Church at 
R. ii. 3. “And thou hast patience and hast borne for my 
name, and hast not failed.” ‘‘ Sharers”—‘‘in the kingdom,” 
assumes that ‘‘the Servants” knew about the kingdom. 

S. John was in the Island, called Patmos, one of the 
Sporades, in the A®gean Sea, about twelve miles S.W. of 
Ephesus. It is a rocky and barren place, but it has an excellent 
harbour. It is now known as Patino, and has about 4,000 
inhabitants. 

“S. John was at Patmos for the Word of God and for the 
testimony of Jesus.” These expressions correspond with those 
used in the opening sentence of the Book. (R.i. 2). Διὰ τὸν 
λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ would seem to show that he was at Patmos for 
the purpose of receiving his revelation. Professor Van den 
Biesen, S.T.D., in the “Catholic Encyclopedia,” says, “It is 
true that the more probable meaning of this phrase is ‘in order 
to hear the word of God,’ etc., and not ‘banished because of 
the word of God,’ etc.” (Apocalypse). S. John does not say 
anywhere that he was banished or exiled. But at R. xx. 4, we 
have the phrase, “ beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for 
the Word of God”—rerrerexiopévorv διὰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν ᾿Ιησοῦ 
καὶ διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ. This refers to the martyrs. It is 
held by some writers that it shows that dla τὸν λόγον, above, 
connotes suffering. But that does not necessarily follow. The 
Revelation was signified by an angel to John, where ἐσήμανεν 
(signified) means explained. This angel explains at R. xix. Io, 
“that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy ”— 
“ μαρτυρία Ἰησοῦ ἐστὶν τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς προφητείας." And at 
R. xxii. 9 the same angel explains “1 am of thy brethren the 
prophets.” He speaks of “the prophecy of this book,” showing 
that he refers to “ prophets’”’ in the O.T. sense, and that he 
salutes S. John as a prophet by reason of the prophecy of this 
Book, written at Patmos. 


132 THE REVELATION 


10. ᾿Εγενόμην ἐν πνεύματι ἐν τῇ κυριακῇ ἡμέρᾳ, καὶ 
ἤκουσα ὀπίσω μου φωνὴν μεγάλην ὡς σάλπιγγος. 


10. I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great 
voice, as of a trumpet. 


In the spirit means rapt in the spirit, in a state of trance. 
Prof. M. Stuart says, ‘‘ That John means to assert, in the case 
before us, that he was in a pneumatic state, 1.6., under peculiar 
and extraordinary divine influence, seems philologically certain” 
(Com. on the Apoc.). This state is described in the Acts of the 
Apostles as ἐν ἐκστάσει---- “ἴῃ ecstasy,” a suspension of the 
functions of the natural senses, whilst absorbed in the con- 
templation of the supernatural. So Ezechiel, “ The spirit took 
me up and I heard behind me the voice” (ii, 12). See also 
Ezech. iii. 14, viii. 3, xi. 24,and xl. 2; Jer. xxiv. 1; Amos vii. I, 
ἠδ). viii rs: Zach: im 1. In S. Paul's second Epistle to the 
Corinthians we have an account of the condition of ecstasy : 
“JT know a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whether in 
the body I know not, or out of the body, I know not, God 
knoweth), such an one rapt even to the third heaven ” 
(2 Cor. xii. 2). The state of prophetic rapture was physically 
exhausting as we know from Ezech. 111. 14, 15, 23; and 
Dan. vii. 15, 28, viii. 27. Accordingly we find indications in 
the Book that the Revelation was given to S. John at intervals, 
in successive raptures, viz., here, and also at iv. I, at xvii. 3, 
and at χχὶ. το. Prof. M. Stuart thinks that μετὰ radra—“ after 
these things’’—indicates a fresh ecstasy, as well as a new phase 
of Revelation, at vii. I, 9, Xv. 5, Xvili. I, and at xix. I. 

The Lord’s day is not mentioned elsewhere in the N.T. 
Bishop Melito of Sardis, c. 170 A.D., wrote a discourse “ On the 
Lord’s Day,” according to Eusebius (H. E. iv. 26). 5. Chry- 
sostom tells us that ‘‘ It was called the Lord’s day because the 
Lord rose from the dead on this day’’ (Com. on Ps. cxix.). It 
was the first day of the week, the Christian Sunday, an 
appropriate day ; for a vision of the risen Lord. 

** Behind me” in prophetic language means, “after me” in 
point of time, and refers to the future. 

The “ voice of the trumpet” is heard in Exodus, in connection 
with the vision which God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai 
(xix. 16 f.). 


PREFACE TO THE REVELATION 42 


11. Λεγούσης. Ὃ βλέπεις γράψον εἰς βιβλίον καὶ πέμψον 
ταῖς ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησίαις, εἰς Ἔφεσον. καὶ εἰς Σμύρναν καὶ εἰς 
Πέργαμον καὶ εἰς Θυάτειρα καὶ εἰς Σάρδεις καὶ εἰς Φιλα- 
δελφίαν καὶ εἰς Λαοδικίαν. 


11. Saying, What thou seest write in a book, and send to the seven 
churches (which are in Asia), to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamos 
and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea. 


What thou seest refers to the whole series of visions. They 
were to be written down in a book for the benefit of the Seven 
Churches. βιβλίον denotes a papyrus MS. as distinguished 
from a parchment MS. See2 Tim. iv. 13. Γράψον eis, is found 
in this usage, only here and in the Gospel of S. John. It 
indicates a command to write a book about the visions (see 
R. i. 19). We have seen, in the foreword, the meaning of these 
Churches, and the symbolism of seven. Christians were not 
allowed to build churches for public worship till the reign of 
Septimus Severus, A.D. 211 (Gib. D. and F., c. xvi.). The 
words “which are in Asia,” are not in the Greek codices. 
Brandscheid and Swete omit them. They emphasise the literal 
or local interpretation of the Letters. The Churches S. John 
had in view were not in Asia. Asia is put for futurity. 


12. Kai ἐπέστρεψα βλέπειν τὴν φωνὴν ἥτις ἐλάλει μετ᾽ 
ἐμοῦ" καὶ ἐπιστρέψας εἶδον ἑπτὰ λυχνιάς χρυσᾶς, 


12. And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, and being turned 
I saw seven golden candlesticks. 


So in Exodus, the people saw the voice of the trumpet 
(xx. 18). S. John turning to see what lay behind him—.z., in 
the future, saw seven golden candlesticks, which we are told 
later (verse 20) are the seven churches. The seven golden candle- 
sticks were made by Moses and the Israelites after a pattern 
explained by God (Exod. xxv. 31, 40). They were placed in 
the Tabernacle of the Temple. They were the light of the 
Temple. Jesus said of his disciples, “Ye are the light of the 
world” (Matt. v. 14). The Church of Christ is the light of the 
world. The Seven Churches, symbolised by the seven candle- 
sticks, are the Light of the World foreseen by 5. John.. The 
importance of these seven lights of the future is seen as the 
Revelation progresses. Avyvia is a lamp-stand. Candles and 
candlesticks are modern. See Illustration, p. gg. 


134 THE REVELATION 


13. Kal ἐν μέσῳ τῶν λυχνιῶν ὅμοιον υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου, 
ἐνδεδυμένον ποδήρη καὶ περιεζωσμένον πρὸς τοῖς μαστοῖς 


ζώνην χρυσῆν" 


13. And in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks one like unto the 
Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girt about the 
paps with a golden girdle. 


(9 - χρυσᾶν.) 

“Οπ6 like the Son of Man,” is put by Daniel for the Messias 
(Dan. vii. 13). Jesus Christ called Himself the Son of Man 
frequently to mark the fulfilment of prophecies. The expres- 
sion occurs many times in S. John’s Gospel (Jhn. i. 51, iil. 13, 
I4, Vv. 27, vi. 27, 53, 62, viii. 28, ΧΙ, 23, 34, xiii. 31). The 
garment coming down to the feet and the girdle, indicate the 
sacerdotal office of the High Priesthood (Exod. xxviii. 4). 
The verb ἐνδύω means “to get into” a garment, and may have 
reference to the seamless robe of the Son of Man. 

It will be noticed that the English version differs from the 
Greek. The Greek runs, ‘‘in the midst of the candlesticks,” 
the English,*‘‘in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.” 
The Vulgate has In medio septem,; but Bd. and S. both omit 
seven golden. 


ε \ ‘ > A“ Ν ε 4 Ν ε » 
14. Ἧ δὲ κεφαλὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ αἱ τρίχες λευκαὶ ὡς ἔριον 
λευκόν, ὡς χιών, καὶ οἵ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ὡς φλὸξ πυρός. 


14. And his head and hair were white, as white wool and as snow, and 
his eyes were as a flame of fire. 


In Dan. vii. 9, “the Ancient of days” is clothed with a 
garment ‘‘ white as snow,” with hair ‘like pure wool.” The 
Seer gives \attributes of the Father to God the Son frequently. 
See Κα. i. 8, notes. ‘‘ His head and hair were white” = 
“λευκαὶ. The same word is used at R. xiv. 14 for the cloud 
on which the Son of Man is seated. SS. Matthew and Luke 
use the same word in describing our Lord’s transfiguration 
which S. John witnessed (Matt. xvii. 2; Luke ix. 29). It 
means shining white. In Daniel’s vision, we have ‘‘ behold a 
man clothed in linen, and his loins were girded with the finest 
gold. And his body was like the chrysolite, and his face as the 
appearance of lightning, and his eyes as a burning lamp, and 
his arms and all downward even to the feet, like in appearance 
to glittering brass, and the voice of his word like the voice of a 
multitude ’’ (Dan. x. 5, 6). 


PREFACE TO THE REVELATION 135 


15. Kat οἱ πόδες αὐτοῦ ὅμοιοι χαλκολιβάνῳ ὡς ἐν καμίνῳ 
πεπυρωμένῳ, καὶ ἡ φονὴ αὐτοῦ as φωνὴ ὑδάτων πολλῶν. 


15. And his feet like unto fine brass, as in a burning furnace, and his 
voice as the sound of many waters, 


(S. πεπυρωμένης.) 

** The voice of a multitude” and the ‘‘ voice as the sound of 
many waters,” are practically the same simile. ‘“‘ Many waters” 
are put in this book for many peoples (R. xvii. 15). 

“Feet . . . like the appearance of glowing brass,” is found 
also in Ezech.i. 7. Daniel’s prophecy is chiefly in view here. 
He interprets the vision of the statue with feet part of iron and 
part of clay (ii. 33, 42), as the Roman Empire, ‘ breaking in 
pieces and treading down the rest with his feet” (vii. 7). He 
gives the vision of the Lord with, “feet like in appearance to 
glittering brass” (x. 6), apparently as the antithesis to the feet 
of clay. More powerful than the feet of the Beast, to trample 
down his enemies. Trampling is a:figure used by Ezechiel 
also at xxv. 6, and by Isaias lviii. 3, “1 have trampled on them 
in my indignation.” See R. xiv. 20, where the wine-press is 
** trodden.” 


, ὧν > lal ὃ A Ἀ 5» wn 9 4 ε Ν A 

16. Kai ἔχων ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ ἀστέρας ἑπτὰ, καὶ 

ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ ῥομφαία δίστομος ὀξεῖα ἐκπορευο- 

μένη, καὶ ἡ ὄψις αὐτοῦ ὡς 6 ἥλιος φαίνει ἐν τῇ δυνάμει 
> nan 
αὐτοῦ. 


\ 


16. And he had in his right hand seven stars ; and from his mouth came 


out a sharp two-edged sword ; and his face shone as the sun shineth in its. 
full strength. 


The seven stars are explained later, ‘‘ The seven stars are 
the angels of the seven churches” (R. i. 20). The prophet 
‘Daniel says, “ But they that are learned shall shine as the 
brightness of the firmament, and they that instruct many to 
justice as stars for all eternity” (xii. 3). These stars “‘ instruct 
many to justice.” They are upheld in the right hand of God. 
Their importance could not be more clearly indicated. The 
two-edged sword represents sentence of eternal reward, or 
punishment. ‘‘ The sword of the Spirit which is the word of 
God” (Eph. vi. 17). “For the word of God is living and 
effectual and more penetrating than any two-edged sword” 
(Heb. iv. 12). ‘‘ And his face shone as the sun”’ is reminiscent 
of the Transfiguration (Matt. xvii. 2). ‘‘And his face as the 
appearance of lightning ” (Dan. x. 6), 


136 THE REVELATION 


I 7: Kai ὅτε εἶδον αὐτόν, ἔπεσα πρὸς τοὺς πόδας αὑτοῦ ὡς 
νεκρός" καὶ ἔθηκεν τὴν δέξιὰν αὑτοῦ ἐπ᾽ ἐμὲ λέγων Μὴ 
φοβοῦ. ἐγώ εἰμι ὃ πρῶτος καὶ ὃ ἔσκχατος. : 


17. And when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right 
hand upon me saying, Fear not. I am the first and the last. 


In Daniel viii. 17, 18 and x. 7-10, we have a similar vision. 
Daniel was afraid and fell on his face, but was touched and sat 
upright. S. John recognised Jesus Christ glorified, and “ fell 
at his feet as dead.” In like manner, after the Transfiguration, 
S. John fell and was raised up by our Lord (Matt. xvii. 6, 7). 

“1 am the first and the last ” connects with R. i. 8, “1 am 
Alpha and Omega.” 


» te “A ἣν , Ν Ἄ, ‘ “ > > 
18. Καὶ 6 ζῶν, καὶ ἐγενόμην νεκρὸς καὶ ἰδοὺ ζῶν εἰμι εἰς 
τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, καὶ ἔχω τὰς κλεῖς τοῦ θανάτου καὶ 
na 
τοῦ ᾷδου. 


18. And alive and was dead and behold I am living for ever and ever, 
and have the keys of death and hell. 


Our Lord tells His beloved disciple that He is the same Jesus 
Christ who died upon the cross, and yet lives for ever and ever; 
who has conquered death and hell, and holds the keys of death 
and hell. Keys are the symbols of power. At Rev. vi. 8 we 
are told that death and hell follow after Him—+.e., are in His 
power. And at Rev. xx. 14, “the general judgment,” we are 
told that death and hell are cast into the pool of fire. ὭὼὯ ζῶν. 
The living God is taken from the O.T. ‘“ Living for ever” is 
also O.T. Deut. xxxii. 40. 


19. Γράψον οὖν ἃ εἶδες καὶ ἃ εἰσὶν καὶ ἃ μέλλει γίνεσθαι | 
μετὰ ταῦτα. 


19. Write therefore the things which thou hast seen, and which are, and 
which must be done hereafter. 


Write “the things which thou hast seen”—~z.e., the past 
visions ; “which are,” the events in progress—viz., the Jewish 
war, and Nero's persecution ; “‘and which must be done here- 
after,” the coming revelation of the future—the latter, extending 


PREFACE TO THE REVELATION 137 


to the day of judgment, for the information and guidance of 
the Seven Churches. 

S. John was commanded to write down past events, present 
events, and future events. It has been supposed by some that 
he wrote down our Lord’s words as he heard them, and the 
Angel’s words, and the visions as they passed before him. But 
that is not the word of command, and the reference to past 
events seems to preclude the idea. ‘‘ What thou seest write in 
a book and send to the seven Churches ”’ (R. i. 11) conveys the 
idea of writing a book about the visions, which could not be 
done at one sitting. The question is a very important one, as 
it touches the composition of the Book of Revelation. If the 
Seer wrote down his visions at once, he must have been pre- 
pared beforehand with papyrus, pen and ink, and a table to 
write on. It would take many hours to inscribe a papyrus roll, 
about fifteen feet long, with Greek uncials. His writing could 
not keep pace with passing visions, interspersed with a running 
commentary by saints and angels. Hence the question 
arises, were the visions seen at different times? As we have 
seen at R. i. 10, the exhausting effect of prophetic ecstasy may 
be inferred from Dan. vii. 15, 28, viii. 27 and x. 8. The visions 
may have been given at separate times. A second ecstasy is 
indicated at R. iv. 2. The Seer says, “I was in the spirit 
(ἐν πνεύματι) on the Lord’s day” (R. i. 10). If ἐν πνεύματι 
means “ prophetic ecstasy” S. John would have been unable to 
write whilst the visions were in progress. Further light is 
thrown on this question at R. x. 3,4. The Seer heard the 
voices of seven thunders. ‘‘ And when the seven thunders had 
uttered their voices, I was about to write.”’ But he was ordered 
not to write the things which the seven thunders had spoken. 
The seven thunders comprised a considerable revelation, not 
intended for publication. They were evidently listened to and 
remembered by 5. John. Afterwards he “ was about to write.” 
In like manner his other visions may have been memorised and 
written down afterwards. It seems that S. John was given clear 
and precise knowledge of the future, and was told what to write, 
and what not to write, without restriction as totime. The result 
is this Book, written under Divine guidance, at Patmos. The 
composition of the Book bears out this conclusion. S. John 
conveys to the Servants of God the knowledge intended for 
them, by means of visions and extracts from the Old Testament 
prophecies, which form a cryptograph, intelligible to them, but 
not to outsiders. 


138 THE REVELATION 


20. Τὸ μυστήριον τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀστέρων οὕς εἶδες ἐπὶ THS- 
δεξιᾶς μου, καὶ τὰς ἑπτὰ λυχνίας τὰς χρυσᾶς" οἱ ἑπτὰ 
ἀστέρες ἄγγελοι τῶν ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησιῶν εἰσιν, καὶ αἱ λυχνίαι 
αἱ ἑπτὰ ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησίαι εἰσίν. 


20. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand 
and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the 
seven churches, and the seven candlesticks are the seven churches, 


Μυστήριον means a hidden mystery. It prepares us for the 
mysterious symbolism of the Churches. The mystery of the 
seven stars and the seven golden candlesticks is thus explained. 
First as to the stars. They are the Angels of the Churches. 
Angels and Apostles have much the same meaning in Greek. 
Αγγελος means “‘ one sent ’—‘“‘ a messenger.” *AzrooroXos, from 
᾿Αποστέλλω, “to send forth,”’ also means “a messenger.” The 
Angels are living men to correspond with living Churches. 
They are the successors of the Apostles. ‘‘ Thou art Peter and 
upon this rock I will build my Church ” (Matt. xvi. 18). ‘‘ Feed 
my lambs,” “ feed my sheep” (Jhn. xxi. 16, 17). These men 
are held in the right hand of God as regards the true faith 
(R. i. 16). The number seven indicates the whole series of 
Angels. They are held responsible for the spiritual condition 
of the Church, and that responsibility filters down, through the 
Bishops, to the other Clergy. 

The seven golden candlesticks are the seven churches, all 
united together on a common stem like the lamp of the 
Tabernacle. And God is in the midst of them (R. i. 13) 
according to His promise, ‘‘ I am with you all days, even till the 
consummation of the world” (Matt. xxviii. 20). Again, “* I will 
ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that 
he may abide with you for ever, the Spirit of Truth” 
(Jhn. xiv. 16, 17). See later, ‘‘ He that has an ear let him hear 
what the Spirit saith to the Churches” (R. ii. 7, notes). 

The reader will note that the object of the Book is to make 
known the future to the Servants of God, men of Apostolic 
character; that the Angels of the Churches are the successors 
of the Apostles; that the Seer was ordered to write the Book 
of Revelation and send it to the Seven Churches (R. i. 11); 
and that the Seer addresses the Book to the “angels” of the 
Seven Churches in the name of the Holy Trinity. 


PART II 
LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 


CHAPTER II 


EPHESUS. 


1. Τῷ ἀγγέλῳ τῆς ἐν ᾿Εφέσῳ ἐκκλησίας γράψον. Τάδε 
λέγει ὁ κρατῶν τοὺς ἑπτὰ ἀστέρας ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ αὐτοῦ, ὃ 
περιπατῶν ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἑπτὰ λυχνιῶν τῶν χρυσέων. 


1. To the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These things saith he 
who holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of 
the seven golden candlesticks, 


(38. Τῷ ἐν Ἐφέσω.) 

In the introductory foreword, “ The Seven Churches of Asia,” 
we have shown that the predictions were not intended for the 
local Churches. ‘‘ Ephesus” stands for the first or Apostolic 
age of the Church, which began with the preaching of Jesus 
Christ, and ended with Nero’s persecution. The Nazarene 
Church of Jerusalem which held the primacy until it fled to 
Pella, during Nero’s persecution, must be taken as the first or 
Apostolic Church. The line of demarcation between one 
Church and the next, though not sharply cut, is distinct. 
The second or martyr’s age began with Nero’s persecution. 

“Τὸ the Angel of the Churches of Ephesus, write.” When 
this was written we may assume S. Simon of Jerusalem to have 
been the Angel of the Church of Ephesus—.e., the first Church 
of Christ. S. John may be looked upon as the “ angel” of the 
local Church of Ephesus. He would not have written to 
himself, nor would he have written to another, who he was 
going to see, soon. (See his second and third Epistles.) 

Our Lord identifies Himself at the head of this message, as 
“ He who holdeth the seven stars in His right hand ” (R. i. ~ 
Κρατῶν, “holding,” is much stronger than ἕχων, “having,” a 
R. i. 16. And ‘‘ He who walketh in the midst,” Speier eth 
ἐν pécw,” is stronger than “ἐν μέσω;,᾽ at Κα. i. 13, as it suggests 
vigilant supervision. This opening symbolism is applicable to 
all the Churches. It is not special to Ephesus. 

139 


140 THE REVELATION 


2. Οἶδα τὰ ἔργα σου καὶ τὸν κόπον Kal THY ὑπομονήν, 
καὶ ὅτι οὐ δύνῃ βαστάσαι κακούς, καὶ ἐπείρασας τοὺς 
λέγοντας ἑαυτοὺς ἀποστόλους, καὶ οὐκ εἰσίν, καὶ εὗρες 
αὐτοὺς ψευδεῖς" 


2. I know thy works and thy labour and thy patience, and how thou 
canst not bear evil men; and thou hast tried them who say they are 
apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars. 


The message to the Apostolic Church opens with great praise. 
Οἶδα, “ I know well” thy works. Ἔργα, “‘ works,” is put in this 
Book for any kind of works. See the works of the Nicolaites 
(R. ii. 6). But these are good works, the work of the Apostles, 
preaching “the Gospel of the Kingdom” and “teaching all 
nations” (Matt. xxiv. 14, xxvill. 19). They are again referred 
to at R.ii. 4, as “thy first charity.” See also R.ii.5. Thy 
“ labours ”’—xémov—occurs again at R. xiv. 13. “* Blessed are 
the dead who die in the Lord . . . that they may rest from 
their labours.” Patience—“ ὑπομονήν "---νε have had _ before 
at R.i.g. It is specially referred to in the next verse, which 
is epexegetical of patience. 

“Thou canst not bear evil men,” definitely, “ those who say 
they are Apostles and are not.” This remark restricts this 
Church to the Apostolic age. No one could pretend to be an 
Apostle in later times. A false Apostle was one who asserted 
that he had walked with the Lord, and had a commission from 
Him to teach. There were many such after the Ascension. 
Justin Martyr wrote, ‘ And after the Ascension of our Lord 
into heaven, certain men were suborned by demons, as their 
agents, who said they were Gods” (Euseb. H. E. ii., 13). 
Menander gave himself out to be the Saviour returned to the 
world (Euseb. H. E. iii., 26). There were many others. ‘ For 
such false Apostles are deceitful labourers, transforming them- 
selves into the Apostles of Christ ” (2 Cor. xi. 13). Our Lord 
had warned this first Church of these men. ‘ Beware of false 
prophets who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly 
they are ravening wolves” (Matt. vii. 15). These men were a 
great trial to the Apostles. See 2 Cor. ii. 17, 111. I, xi. 4-5; 
Gal. 1. 7, ii. 4; Phil. iii, 2-3; 1 Jhn. iv. 1; 2 Jhn. 10. A 
distinction is made between false Apostles and false prophets 
in this Book. The latter persisted long after the Apostles— 
e.g., the Montanist prophets, and the heathen oracles. 

Note these men are Wevde?s—“ liars.”” The word occurs again 
in a context less illuminating as regards its meaning. We may 
take liars to be false apostles and false prophets including the 
heathen hierarchy, and all heresiarchs. Their portion is hell. 


4 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 141 


See R. xxi. 8, 27, xxii. 15. ‘‘ Whois a liar, but he who denieth 
that Jesus is the Christ” ? (z Jhn. ii. 22). 

The works, the labours, and the patience of the local Church 
at Ephesus, scarcely call for comment. Founded by S. Paul 
about the year 54, it was still an infant Church when the 
Apocalypse was written, in 67. Nor is there any record of 
false Apostles at Ephesus. Cerinthus, who comes into view at 
a later period than A.D. 67, did not pretend to be an Apostle. 
No one could do so successfully in the presence of S. John, 
who was known to have been the constant companion of our 
Lord. Cerinthus denied the Divinity of Christ. 


A ε A » Ν 5 ’ 4 QA » , 
3. Kal ὑπομονὴν ἔχεις, καὶ ἐβάστασας διὰ τὸ ὄνομά μου, 
καὶ οὐκ ἐκοπίασας. ; 


3. And thou hast patience, and hast borne for my name, and hast not 
failed. 


(5. Ξε οὐ κεκοπιακες.) 

The first Church suffered many things for the name of Jesus. 
The apostles were scourged and imprisoned and put to death 
by both Jew and pagan. They bore all things with patience 
and without fail. Very great praise is given to this Church. 
No other Church, but Thyatira, gets such praise. There was 
no persecution of the local Church at Ephesus before the year 
67. S. Paul’s preaching was so successful that the sale of 
images of Diana of Ephesus fell off. Demetrius, a silver-smith, 
felt the consequent loss of trade, and caused a tumult of the 
people, saying that not alone at Ephesus but almost throughout 
all Asia, this Paul had persuaded many that gods are not made 
with hands (Acts xix. 26). Owing to this disturbance S. Paul 
left Ephesus. Other persecution there was none. 

It is possible that S. John, like S. Paul, may have been sent 
away from Ephesus owing to disturbances due to a falling off 
in the trade of silver images. 


“ > ed ἈΝ a ¢ \ > “4 \ , 
4. ᾿Αλλὰ ἔχω κατὰ σοῦ οτι THY ἀγάπην σου THY πρώτην 
αφῆκες. P 


4. But this I have against thee, that thou hast left thy first charity. 


᾿Αγαπὴν πρώτην--- first charity.” The early Church had, 
already, after thirty-three years, fallen away from that high 
standard of love and charity, described in the Acts. ‘ And 
all they that believed were together, and had all things in 


142 THE REVELATION 


common ... their possessions and goods they sold and divided 
them to all, according as every one had need... . Praising 
God” (Acts ii. 44, 47). ‘‘ And the multitude of the believers 
had but one heart and one soul, neither did any one of them 
say that of the things which he possessed, anything was his 
own, but all things were common to them” (Acts iv. 32). This 
remarkable charity characterised the first Christians of Jerusalem, 
whose fervour was inflamed by the preaching and example of 
our Lord and the Apostles. 

There was nothing of the kind at Ephesus. See Acts, 
Chapter xix., and S. Paul to the Ephesians. 


> 
5. Μνημόνευε οὖν πόθεν πέπτωκας, καὶ μετανόησον καὶ 
τὰ πρῶτα ἔργα ποίησον" εἰ δὲ μή, ἔρχομαί σοι καὶ κινήσω 
τὴν λυχνίαν σου ἐκ τοῦ τόπου αὐτῆς, ἐὰν μὴ μετανοήσης. 


5. Be mindful therefore from whence thou art fallen and do penance, 
and do the first works ; or else I come to thee and will move thy candle- 
stick out of its place, except thou do penance, 


(S = πέπτωκες.) 

** Be mindful from whence thou art fallen ” argues a great fall- 
ing off from fervour, in the early Church, by the year 67. “ Do 
penance, ‘ μέτανόησον;, " is insisted upon in this Book. See 
R. 11. 16, 21, 22, ili. 3, Ig, ix. 20, 21. ‘‘ Do the first works” 
explains “thy works” at R. ii. 2, works of love and charity. 
Ta πρῶτα ἔργα is not the same expression as τὴν ἀγάπεν σου 
τὴν πρώτην, “thy first charity” (R. ii. 4). The first com- 
munism of primitive Christianity could not well be restored in 
the altered conditions of the Church; but the falling away 
could be stopped and recovered. ‘‘ Or else I will move thy 
candlestick out of its place.” Its placeas an illuminant is where 
it is visible and sheds its light around the world. Our Lord 
_ does not say that He will extinguish it. It is the light of His 
Church. “Except thou do penance” again shows the efficacy 
of penance. It seems that the first Church did not resume its 
first works, or did not do sufficient penance. Its light was, for 
a time, removed out of its place. The Nazarene Church fled to 
Pella where it remained for some years. The Church of Rome, 
the leading Church of the Gentiles, which inherited the primacy 
through S. Peter, was forced by persecution into the Catacombs, 
where also its light was hidden for a time. 

The local Church, at Ephesus, seems to have made constant 
progress in the faith. S. Ignatius of Antioch praised it highly. 
It escaped the Neronian and Domitian persecutions. Finally 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 143 


its candlestick was not “hidden,” but extinguished, by the Turks, 
in the fourteenth century. Avyviav meansa lamp. The lamp 
of Ephesus shared the fate of the lamp of the Tabernacle. 

In considering these admonitions it is well to bear in mind 
that the penance of the early Church, which is in view here, 
was much more severe than that which passes for penance in 
our day. 


6. ᾿Αλλὰ τοῦτο ἔχεις, OTL μισεῖς TA ἔργα τῶν Νικολαϊτῶν, 
ἃ A 
ἃ κἀγώ μισῶ. 


6. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaites, which 
I also hate. 


The early Church is marked out for special praise because it 
hated the deeds of the Nicolaites, which God also hated. The 
Church, like its founder, hated the sin, but not the sinners. We 
take ta ἔργα, “the works” of the Nicolaites, to refer to sin, for 
God hates sin (Prov. vi. 16, viii. 13; Ps. xcvi. 10). It isassumed 
here that the expression ‘the works of the Nicolaites,” needs 
no explanation. The reference is therefore to something well- 
known to the Servants of God, in the year 67. There is a 
general consensus of opinion that ‘‘the deeds of the Nicolaites” 
were immoral in kind. S. Irenzus, the first Christian writer to 
notice them, thought that the Nicolaites were followers of 
Nicolaus, the Deacon (Acts vi. 5): and that they believed in 
the lawfulness of promiscuous intercourse with women, and 
the eating of things offered to idols (Adv. Her. i. 26). 
Hippolytus concurred in this view. But Clement of Alex- 
andria denied that Nicolaus held such views (Euseb. H. E. 
111. 29); and Epiphanius agreed with Clement (Her. xxv.). 
Tertullian noticed that they had ceased to exist in his time, 
c. 230 (De Prescript Her. c. 33). 

The Nicolaites are mentioned again at R. ii. 14, in connection 
with the doctrine of Balaam, “ who taught Balac to cast a 
stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat and 
commit fornication.” Balaam is a Hebrew word signifying 
“to destroy people.” Νικόλαυς is a Greek word derived from 
νϊκάω, “to conquer” people. The words have practically the 
same root idea, and refer to the destroying power of lust 
(see τ Tim. vi. 9). The first Church was reared in the unclean 
atmosphere of idolatry. At the first Council of Jerusalem, 
touching Jewish and Gentile observances, it was decreed as 
follows, “ For it hath seemed good tothe Holy Ghost and to us, 
to lay no further burden upon you than these necessary things. 
That you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from 


144 THE REVELATION 


blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication’ 
(Acts xv. 29. See also Acts xxi. 25). These things were a 
serious menace to the first Church. The servants of God, who 
were born Hebrews, hated these things. The local Church at 
Ephesus, of Gentile birth, probably did not hate these things. 
When S. Paul wrote to Ephesus, from his Roman prison, 
somewhere about the year 62 A.D., he thought it necessary to 
give the Ephesian Christians this solemn warning: ‘ But forni- 
cation and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not so much 
as be named among you, as becometh saints: Or obscenity, or 
foolish talking, or scurrility, which is to no purpose; but rather 
giving of thanks. For know ye this, and understand, that no 
ornicator, or unclean, or covetous person, which is a serving of 
idols, hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 
Let no man deceive you with vain words. For because of these 
things cometh the anger of God upon the children of unbelief. 
. . . And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of dark- 
ness; but rather reprove. them. For the things that are done by 
them in secret, it is a shame even to speak of ” (Eph. v. 3-13). 


5 ¥ > 5 ’ ld Ν “Ὁ / A 5 
7. Ὃ ἔχων οὖς ἀκουσάτω τί τὸ Πνεῦμα λέγει ταῖς ἐκκλη- 
σίαις. Τῷ νικῶντι δώσω αὐτῷ φαγεῖν ἐκ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς 
ζωῆς, ὅ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ μου. 


“γ. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches. 
To him that overcometh I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the 
paradise of my God. 


“ He that hath ears to hear let him hear ” was an expression 
used by our Lord after relating the parable of the sower. 
And the Apostles asked Him the meaning of the parable, and 
He answered them, “ Because to you it is given to know the 
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not 
given’”’ (Matt. xiii. 9, 11, Mrk. iv. 9, 12). S. Luke adds, “ that 
seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand ” 
(viii. 10), showing that “ the letter” has an esoteric meaning and 
is not to be taken as a message to Ephesus. When the Apostles 
asked our Saviour about John the Baptist, He said, “And if you 
will receive it, he is Elias that isto come. He that hath ears to 
hear let him hear” (Matt. xi. 15). So also in connection with 
the parable of salt (Luke xiv. 35). See also Matt. xiii. 43. 
Some meaning deeper than the surface, requiring consideration 
is indicated. Here it applies to what the Spirit says to the 
Churches, ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις, plural—the Churches of the Apostolic 
age. The Spirit is the Holy Ghost, which our Saviour said the 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 145 


Father would send in His name, to teach the Church all things 
(Jhn. xiv. 26) The same words are found at the end of each 
of the prophecies, indicating that the Letters are not to be taken 
literally. There is a mystery about them. Τὸ μυστήριον τὰς 
ἑπτὰ λυχνίας, the mystery of the seven candlesticks (R. i. 20). 
“To him that overcometh "᾿--ονεκῶντι, is a word frequently 
used by S. John in his Epistles, gospel, and in the Apocalypse. 
In this context it relates to the victory of constancy, even 
unto death, over persecution. It connotes martyrdom at 
R. ii. II, ili, 21, xii. 11. This Book is written in view of 
persecution. The verb vixdwa—‘ to conquer ”’—is used in con- 
nection with our Saviour’s death upon the Cross. “Ἐγὼ 
νενίκηκα τὸν κόσμον. “I have overcome the world ” 
(Jhn. xvi. 33). The reward is eternal happiness. ‘‘ The tree 
of life” refers the reader to the end of the Book where “ the 
tree of life bearing twelve fruits” is seen in a vision of the new 
Jerusalem—“ the paradise of my God” (R. xxii. 2). At the 
end of every one of these messages there is a promise “to him 
that overcometh,” and this promise is an allusion to some 
passage towards the close of the Book, showing the close 
relation existing between these warnings and the rest of 
Revelation. The tree of life is mentioned in Genesis (iii. 22). 
Adam is put out of paradise, “lest perhaps he put forth his 
hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.” 
It is the symbol of heavenly immortality. 

The ancient town and Church of Ephesus disappeared 
centuries ago. A village called Aya Solouk occupies its site. 
But the name remains in the Apocalypse as a symbol of the 
first or Nazarene age of the Church, and so has become 
immortal. 

The last state of the Church is an index of the first state of 
that which follows it, as one merges into the other. 


SMYRNA. 


8. Καὶ τῷ αγγέλῳ τῆς ἐν Σμύρνῃ ἐκκλησίας γράψον. 
Τάδε λέγει ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος, ὃς ἐγένετο νεκρὸς καὶ 
ἔζησεν. 


8. And to the angel of the church of Smyrna write: These things saith 
the First and the Last, who was dead and liveth. 


(9 -- ττῳ ἐν Σμύρνη.) 

Τάδε Xéyec—* these things saith "᾿---ἶβ prophetic. 

Smyrna stands for the second or martyrs’ age of the Church, 
το 


146 THE REVELATION 


which extended from Nero’s persecution to the edict of Milan, 
A.D. 313. Smyrna is a Greek word meaning myrrh, a reddish 
aromatic gum resin, bitter to the taste, used for making incense, 
and for embalming the dead. It fitly symbolises the blood of 
the martyrs. The Bishop of Rome governed the Church in 
this age and is the angel addressed. Our Lord presents himself 
to this age as ‘‘ The first and the last,” ‘‘ And alive and was 
dead” (R. i. 17, 18), a very appropriate introduction to the 
martyrs’ age. The Apostolic Church fell away from its first 
charity and was condemned to the removal of “ its candlestick.” 
Its candlestick was removed to the catacombs in this Smyrnian 
or second age (R. ii. 5). Grace was recovered, and the candle- 
stick restored to the Church, through persecution. 

There was no Bishop, known to history, in the local Church 
of Smyrna, in the year 67. 


9. Οἶδά σου τὴν θλίψιν καὶ THY πτωχείαν, ἀλλὰ πλούσιος 
εἶ, καὶ τὴν βλασφημίαν ἐκ τῶν λεγόντων Ἰουδαίους εἶναι 
ἑαυτούς, καὶ οὐκ εἰσίν, ἀλλὰ συναγωγὴ τοῦ σατανᾶ. 


9. I know thy tribulation and thy poverty, but thou art rich; and thou 
art blasphemed by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are the 
Synagogue of Satan. 


Instead of “1 know thy works,” the opening sentence runs, 
“Ἱ know thy tribulation and thy poverty.” The work of the 
Church, in its second age, was to suffer and do penance and 
thereby regain the light. Its candlestick was hidden because 
it had fallen from grace. Referring to the martyrs of this age, 
an “Ancient” tells S. John: ‘‘ These are they who have come out 
of great tribulation” (ἐκ τῆς θλίψεως τῆς μιγάλης R. vii. 14). 
A vision of the martyrs of this age is given in Chapter VI. 

Smyrna was given the bitter medicine of persecution, symbol- 
ised by Myrrh. In this way it became rich spiritually. 
“ Blasphemed,” 7.e., persecuted “by those who say they are 
Jews.” S. Paul uses the expression with reference to Jewish 
persecution (Acts xiii. 45; xvili.6; Rom. ii. 24). The Jews 
opposed the spread of Christianity in every way. They 
stirred up persecution, and when persecution arose they joined 
heartily in it. When S. Polycarp’s life was threatened at 
Smyrna, the Jews furiously demanded his condemnation by the 
Proconsul ; and when he was sentenced to death, they ran for 
fuel to burn him. They even tried to prevent his body from 
being given up to his followers (Euseb. H. E. iv. 15). Nero’s 
persecution, with which the age of Smyrna opened, was in- 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 147 


stigated by the Jews. But these Jews who rejected and 
crucified their Messias were no longer true Jews; they were 
“the Synagogue of Satan” (see Rom. ii. 17,28). S. John relates 
in his Gospel, that the Jews boasted to Christ that they were 
the seed of Abraham, and He answered them, “If you be the 
children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham.... You are 
of your father the devil. ... He was a murderer from the 
beginning ” (Jhn. viii. 39-44). 


10. Μηδὲν φοβοῦ ἃ μέλλεις πάσχειν. ἰδοὺ μέλλει 

, ε 4 > ε nw > 4 9 “ 
βάλλειν ὁ διάβολος ἐξ ὑμῶν εἰς φυλακήν, ἵνα πειρασθῆτε" 
καὶ ἔχητε θλίψιν ἡμερῶν δέκα. γίνου πιστὸς ἄχρι θανάτου, 
καὶ δώσω σοι τὸν στέφανον τῆς ζωῆς. 


το. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold the devil 
will cast some of you into prison that you may be tried, and you shall have 
tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the 
crown of life. ; 


(3 Ξ- μὴ φοβοῦ.) : 

“ Fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer,” is in itself 
a prediction. It leads up to a more definite one. ‘‘ Behold the 
devil will cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried. 
And you shall have tribulation ten days.” Θλέψιες, “ tribula- 
tion’ stands for bloody persecution (R. vii. 14), and ten days 
for ten periods. This warning was given to the Church of the 
second age to help it to bear with fortitude the sufferings which 
were in store for it. Sufferings foretold are easier to bear than 
those which come unexpectedly upon the weak. ‘“‘ The devil 
will cast some of you into prison” refers to the “great red 
dragon” at R. xii. 3. He is the power behind Cesar, who in- 
stigated that “ whoever will not adore the image of the beast 
should be slain” (R. xiii. 15). He joins with Cesar in promoting 
Czsar worship by persecution. 

Prison stands for all manner of sufferings. Christians left 
prison to undergo exile, scourging, torture, exposure to wild 
beasts and death in other forms. ‘That you may be tried.” 
This was done of God’s set purpose that the Church might be 
purified. 

Ten days or periods of persecution need not be strictly ten. 
Ten, in Scripture prophecy, is a round number denoting at 
least ten. It is a remarkable coincidence, however, that 
historians refer to the ten persecutions. Nero’s persecution 
was in progress when the Revelation was written. At least 
nine others followed, attributed to Domitian, Trajan, M. Aurelius, 


- 148 THE REVELATION 


Severus, Maximin, Decius, Valerian, Aurelian, and Diocletian.. 
There were other minor persecutions. 

Be thou faithful unto death reveals the severity of the 
“ θλίψις. Christians of the second age must be ready to die 
for the faith. ‘And I will give thee the crown of life.” 
Στέφανος, means the crown of laurels, the reward of victory in 
the contests of the arena. It is put in this book as the martyr’s 
crown, perhaps, because they also gained it in the arena 
(I Cor. ix. 24). 8. James refers to “ the crown of life, which 
God hath promised to them that love him” (Jas. i. 12)—rijs 
ζωῆς = eternal life (see R. iii. 11). There is no evidence that 
the local Church at Smyrna suffered ten persecutions. It 
escaped those of Nero and Domitian, and what persecutions 
it did suffer were common to all the Churches of the district. 


ε » > 5» ’ ’ Ν ~ 4 Lal 5 
Ο ἔχων οὖς ἀκουσάτω τί τὸ Πνεῦμα λέγει ταῖς ἐκκλη- 
σίαις. Ὁ νικῶν οὐ μὴ ἀδικηθῇ ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ δευτέρου. 


11. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the 
Churches. He that shall overcome shall not be hurt by the second death. 


The Spirit is the teacher of the Church. “And the things 
that are to come he shall show you” (Jhn. xvi. 13). 

Here the reader is referred to the end of the Book. We read 
at R. xxi. 8, “But to the fearful and unbelieving . their 
portion | shall be in the pool burning with fire and brimstone, 
which is the second death,’ where δειλοῖς stands for those 
who are afraid—“ cowards.”’ ‘‘ He that shall overcome shall not 
be hurt by the second death.” ‘The passage at R. xxi. 8 refers 
to cowards who fall into idolatry, and worship Cesar, through 
fear of death. 

Smyrna was about thirty-five miles north af Ephesus. It 
was evangelised later than Ephesus and therefore was a 
younger Church. The city of Smyrna was one of the richest 
in Asia, and remains so still. Owing to the silting up of the 
river Cayster, the trade of Asia Minor was diverted from 
Ephesus to Smyrna. 

The interpretation of these messages requires that the special 
events predicted for each Church should be special to each and 
not common to all. No one supposes that Smyrna had a 
greater share of persecution than the neighbouring churches; 
or that the Synagogue of Satan troubled it more than Laodicea, 
for example, which had the largest Jewish population. There 
were 7,500 adult Jewish freemen in Laodicea, according to 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 149 


Sir W. Ramsay (Letters, p. 420). At present Smyrna has 

about 250,000 inhabitants, nearly half of whom belong to the 

Russo-Greek Church; with the exception of a few Catholics, 

rest are Mohammedans, and the place now belongs to the 
urks. 


PERGAMOS. 


12. Καὶ τῷ αγγέλῳ τῆς ἐν Περγάμῳ ἐκκλησίας γράψον, 
Τάδε λέγει ὁ ἔχων τὴν ῥομφαίαν τὴν δίστομον τὴν ὀξεῖαν. 


12. And to the angel of the church of Pergamos write; These things 
saith he that hath the sharp two-edged sword. 


Pergamos was situated about thirty miles north of Smyrna 
on the great Roman road. There is no record of its conversion 
to Christianity. Missionaries, pushing north from Smyrna, 
probably evangelised it. There was no “angel” there in the 
year 67, known to history. 

The Speaker identifies Himself, as ‘he that hath the sharp 
two-edged sword,” taken from R. i. 16. It is a threatening 
introduction. The threat recurs at R. ii. 16. 

The third age of the Church, called Pergamos, extended from 
the edict of Milan, A.D. 313, to the fall of the Roman Empire 
in the beginning of the sixth century. Exact dates are out of 
the question, but Pergamos ended, according to this Book, with 
the millennium, when Satan was chained up for a thousand 
years. 

The word “ Pergamos ” means “the dividing of the horns.” 
Horns are O.T. symbols of kingdoms opposed to each other. 
Constantine the Great gave two horns to the Church. He 
ambitioned a new Rome on the Bosphorus, which should bear 
his name, and be the metropolis of the spiritual and temporal 
powers of the Empire. At the feast of dedication of the city, a 
column of marble was erected by Constantine, inscribed with 
the title “ New Rome” (Zozom I. 11. 2). In the third age of the 
Church the Greek Patriarchate became so great as to threaten 
the primacy of Rome. At one time it governed more Churches 
than Rome, because there were in early days more Churches in 
the East than in the West. Professor Vailhé Siméon says: 

“In any case, if a superior jurisdiction over these twenty- 
eight provinces did not belong de jure to the Bishops of Constanti- 
nople from 381 to 457, it is quite certain that de facto they 
exercised such jurisdiction” (“‘ Cath. Encyc.” vol. 6, p. 757). 
The rivalry of the Greek Church led it to doctrinal independence. 


150 THE REVELATION 


Great heresies were enkindled in the East, and gradually _ 
extinguished in the West (see p. 82). There is no reference to 
heresy in this message, because the message is addressed to the 
Angel of the Church of Rome, and that Church has never been 
guilty of heresy. The Church is “the pillar and the ground of 
the truth” (1 Tim. iii. 15). 


13. Οἶδα ποῦ κατοικεῖς, ὅπου ὁ θρόνος τοῦ σατανᾶ" καὶ 
κρατεῖς τὸ ὄνομά μου, καὶ οὐκ ἠρνήσω τὴν πίστιν μου καὶ 
ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις εν αἷς ᾽Ἄντιπας, ὁ μάρτυς μου ὁ πιστός, ὃς 
ἀπεκτάνθη παῤ ὑμῖν, ὅπου ὁ σατανᾶς κατοικεῖ. 


13. I know where thou dwellest, where the seat of satan is; and thou 
holdest fast my name and hast not denied my faith. Even in those days 
when Antipas was my faithful witness, who was slain among you, where 
satan dwelleth. 


(S. omits ev αἷς and writes ὁ πιστός μου. Vg., Et in diebus 
illis Antipas, testis meus fidelis.) . 

It is significant that God, who knows all things, should begin 
His revelation to the third Church thus: “ I know where thou 
dwellest.” The meaning of it is that He wishes all to know 
where the Angel of His Church dwelt in the third age, and calls 
attention to it. ‘“ Where the seat of Satanis.’” The seat of 
idolatry was the seat of Satan. Rome was the headquarters 
of idolatry, therefore Rome was the seat of Satan. The 
Revelation shows Rome, and Satan, and the Beast, allied 
together in defence of Czsar worship. Rome was “ the mother 
of fornications and abominations of the earth” (R. xvii. 5). 

“And thou holdest fast my name and hast not denied my 
faith,” is another indication of Rome. The faith was assailed 
by many heresies of the East, but especially by the Arian 
heresy, which denied that Jesus Christ was God. Arius was a 
Greek. He was helped by the sons of Constantine. His 
heresy was widespread. The Ostrogoths, the Visigoths, the 
Vandals, and the Suevi, were all, for a time, Arians, and perse- 
cuted the Church for holding fast the Divinity of Jesus Christ. 
The Angel, or Bishop of Rome, is praised for holding fast the 
faith in the midst of heresies and persecutions. 

But it is important that there should be no mistake as to the 
seat of God’s Church. A witness is called. “Antipas, my 
faithful witness, who was slain among you, where Satan 
dwelleth.” Antipas is mentioned in connection with the Seat of 
Satan, to identify it. So at ΚΕ. xi. 8, where there is question of ° 
Jerusalem, we read, “the great city which is spiritually called 


I 
LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 151 


Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified,” to 
identify that great city with Jerusalem. Antipas is assumed 
by the Speaker to be well known to the Servants of God,as a 
martyr of Rome. There was no persecution in or before the 
year 67, except that of Nero, at Rome. Therefore Antipas was 
slain at Rome in Nero’s persecution. We are in this difficulty 
that no man of that name is known to have been slain at Rome 
in the first, or any other, persecution. 

That seems strange, for Antipas was evidently a well known 
man. He is picked out as the chief witness to the faith in the 
first persecution. He is held up to the veneration of posterity 
in the Book of Revelation. But the names of persons and 
places in the Book are carefully concealed by symbols. We 
must not expect the ordinary name of this great witness to 
appear, for one such real name might reveal too much to the 
Roman authorities. 

S. Peter was the chief witness for Christ in the first persecu- 
tion, and there are several important clues which go to identify 
him with Antipas. First, the date. According to Dr. Swete, 
ev ταῖς ἡμέραις, throws the time of the martyrdom of Antipas 
back some years before the writing of the Apocalypse (op. cit. 
Ρ. 35). S. Peter was slain by Nero in the year 64, three 
years before this message was written. Second, the place. 
S. Peter was slain at Rome, ‘‘ where the seat of Satan is.” 
Third, the cause. He was slain for the testimony of Jesus, that 
is implied in ὁ μάρτυς μου. Fourth, his rank. Our Saviour 
calls Antipas ‘‘ ὁ μάρτυς μου ὁ πιστός." He is Himself ὁ μάρτυς 
ὁ πιστός, αἱ R. i. 5 and iii. 14. He gives Antipas his own title 
of ““ faithful and true,” qualifying it by “‘ my ;” evidently a man 
specially dear to God. 5. Peter was our Lord’s chosen witness. 
‘Jesus saith to them, ‘But whom do you say that I am?’ 
Simon Peter answered and said, ‘ Thou art Christ, the Son of the 
living God.’ And Jesus answering said to him, ‘ Blessed art 
thou, Simon-Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood hath not revealed 
it to thee, but my Father, who is in heaven’ ” (Matt. xvi. 15 f.). 
Fifth, symbolism. Antipas in this connection isa symbol. It 
was the abbreviated name of Herod Antipatros, frequently used 
by Josephus. S. Peter’s name and the fame of his death 
at Rome were so well known, that to mention his name would 
be equivalent to calling Rome by its proper name. Hence the 
name of Peter must be cloaked in a familiar symbol. Besides 
leaders of persecuted movements have generally a code name 
concealing their identity. Sixth, the name itself, Antipas. There 
was a custom amongst the Jews of calling men by the name of 
the district to which they belonged. S. Peter was a Galilean 
of the tetrarchy of Antipas. He could not be called “the 


152 THE REVELATION 


Galilean,” for that name was given to our Lord. There 
remained the name of his tetrarchy, Antipas. James and John 
were called Boanerges, showing the use of familiar names 
amongst the Apostles. Judas Iscariot—Ish-Karyoth—means 
Judas of Karyoth; Simon the Cananean (Matt. x. 4). Thomas, 
one of the Twelve, called Didymus (Jhn. xx. 24). Seventh, 
there is an evident assumption that the name of Antipas con- 
veyed its meaning to “ the Servants ” of God, who were of the 
Apostolic class, as of the name of one belonging to that class. 
If we assume, as we have every reason to do, that Antipas was a 
Christian martyr, and that Rome was the Seat of Satan, it 
seems probable that S. Peter is the witness referred to. His 
martyrdom at Rome, in the year 64, was known to the Brethren. 
In the Roman theme of Revelation, the dragon (Satan) is said 
to give the Beast (the Cesars), his own throne—rov θρόνον αὐτοῦ 
(R. xiii. 2). Here our Lord says “1 know where thou dwellest— 
ὅπου ὁ θρόνος τοῦ carava—where the seat of Satan is.” These 
two verses are linked together epexegetically. The object of 
this sentence is to place the angel of the third age of the Church 
at Rome. The Angel, or Bishop, of the Church of Rome is 
held responsible for the state of the Churches in the third age. 
Notwithstanding the some-time preponderance of the Churches 
under the jurisdiction of Constantinople, the primacy is given 
by God to Rome in this prediction. 


14. ‘ANN ἔχω κατὰ σοῦ ὀλίγα, ὅτι ἔχεις ἐκεῖ κρατοῦντας 
τὴν διδαχὴν Βαλαάμ, ὃς ἐδίδασκεν τῷ Βαλὰκ βαλεῖν σκάν- 
δαλον ἐνώπιον τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ, φαγεῖν εἰδωλόθυτα καὶ 
πορνεῦσαι. 


14. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them 
that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling- 
block before the children of Israel, to eat and to commit fornication. 


15. Οὕτως ἔχεις καὶ σὺ κρατοῦντας τὴν διδαχὴν Nuxo- 
λαϊτῶν ὁμοίως. : 


“zs. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaites. 


These two passages may well be taken together. It has been 
pointed out that the Hebrew and Greek words, Balaam and 
Nikolaos, have one and the same meaning, and relate to the 
soul-destroying sin of lust (see R. ii. 6, notes). Also that in 
the Apocalypse Hebrew words are often explained by their Greek 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 153 


equivalents. We know from Num. xxiv. 1-2, and xxxi. 16, 
what were the sins of the Balaamites. Balaam advised Balac to 
ensnare the children of Israel by tempting them with Moabite 
and Midianite women. By this means the Jews were led into 
the idolatrous customs of the Moabites—fornication and the 
eating of things offered to idols. The third Church, freed from 
the persecution of the Czsars and corrupted by wealth, fell into 
sensuality. ‘“EiéwAd0uTa καὶ πορνεῦσαι ᾽" were specifically con- 
demned at the Council of Jerusalem—‘“ εἰδωλοθύτων . . . Kal 
mopveias”’ (Acts xv. 29). The phraseology of St. John’s age is 
naturally used with reference to the things of the third age of 
the Church. Holzhauser writes: 


** When the tribulations of the Gentiles and of the pagans ceased, 
the Church was at rest. From that time by the munificence of 
Constantine the Great, and other benefactors, the priests enjoyed 
considerable revenues from endowments. But the Church becoming 
thus enriched abandoned her creator, God, and neglected her 
salvation. Many of her members gave themselves up to a life of 
voluptuousness with women.” (L’Apoc. I. 137.) 


Holzhauser seems to hold that these judgments were aimed 
at the hierarchy. He says that in those days of repeated falls 
into heresy and schism, the morality of the hierarchy of the 
Greek Church, especially, was at a low ebb (of. cat. I., 147). 


ὔ» > Ν ’ »Ἄ ’ ’ Ἁ 
16. Μετανόησον᾽ εἰ δὲ μή, ἔρχομαΐί σοι ταχύ, καὶ πολε- 
μήσω μετ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ ῥομφαίᾳ τοῦ στόματός μου. 


16. In like manner do penance ; or else I will come to thee quickly, and 
will fight against thee with the sword of my mouth. 


(S. puts οὖν after Μετανόησον.) 

Πολεμήσω μετ᾽ αὐτῶν means “I will fight against them ”’— 
i.e. the sinners, not the Angel of the Church. 

These threats are predictions which were fulfilled. The two- 
edged sword has a cutting edgeas well as a judgment edge. In 
the vision of our Lord riding forth to overthrow the Roman 
Empire we are told ‘‘ with justice he judgeth and fighteth,”’ 
“and out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp two-edged sword 
that with it he may strike the Gentiles’ (R. xix. 11, 15). The 
third or Pergamon age was the age of General Councils in 
which heresies were condemned and Heresiarchs and their 
impure following were excommunicated. In this age also the 
Goths, the Visigoths, the Huns, and the Vandals swept over 


154 THE REVELATION 


Europe carrying fire and sword even into the streets of Rome. ~ 
Sapor II., King of Persia (c. 350) inflicted a cruel persecution Ὁ 
on the Christians of the East, the Empire was broken up and 
Rome itself desolated. In the general débécle of the Empire, 
Christians had their share of suffering (see R. xvi. 5). 


17. Ὁ ἔχων οὖς ἀκουσάτω τί τὸ Πνεῦμα λέγει ταῖς ἐκκλη- 
σίαις. Τῷ νικῶντι δώσω αὐτῷ τοῦ μάννα τοῦ κεκρυμμένου, 
Ν , > A a yA J eo oe Ν A Ἂν 
καὶ δώσω αὐτῷ ψῆφον λευκήν, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ψῆφον ὄνομα 
καινὸν γεγραμμένον ὃ οὐδεὶς οἶδεν εἰ μὴ ὁ λαμβάνων. 


17. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches. 
To him that overcometh I will give the hidden manna, and will give him a 
white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth 
but he that receiveth it. 


“ΤῸ him that overcometh I will give the hidden manna.” 
This is Hebraic symbolism. Manna was sent down from heaven 
to feed the Israelites. It tasted like wafers made with honey. 
A pot of it was deposited in the ark, as a testimony to future 
generations (Exod. xvi. 31, 34). The work of Balac was to 
eat the meat offered to idols. Heavenly food is promised to 
those who abstain, and a secret name, taken from the sym- 
bolism of the Lord of Hosts, who carries the two-edged sword. 
He had “on his head many diadems having a name written 
which no man knoweth but himself” (R. xix. 12). This figure 
of Christ the Conqueror belongs to the third or Pergamon age. 
The name is one of the rewards of heaven. ‘‘And they shall see 
his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads” (R. xxii. 4). 
It is the ineffable name of God. 

There has been much speculation about the “‘ white stone.” 
“Whos,” as a dictionary word, refers to the ancient Greek 
custom of using a white stone to denote the innocence of 
persons tried before the courts and acquitted. The stone 
was cast into an urn. In that light the promise would mean 
acquittal on the day of judgment. 

Bergamo, the modern Pergamos, is now a Mohammedan 
town in which there are many Christians of the Greek Schismatic 
Rite. Its Church history is a blank. There was no persecution 
there before the Apocalypse was written, and consequently 
Antipas was not slain there. It had no special claim to be 
known as the seat of Satan. The expression used by S. John 
is ὁ Opovos τοῦ catavé— the throne of Satan.” It is used again 
as the seat of the Beast, Nero, referring to Rome—rov θρόνον 
τοῦ θηρίου (R. xvi. το). Pergamos of Asia Minor, whether in 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 155 


the first age or in the third, fails completely to reflect the lights 
_ and shades of the picture drawn. : 
Note the connection between the symbolism of God in this 
picture and in that of the conquest of Rome (Chapter xix.). 
“He that hath the sharp two-edged sword.” And note that 
the Church of the third age was the Church of “the Decline 
and Fall.” The parallelism of the historic periods, in the 
Roman Thome and in the Letters is shown in this way.. 


THYATIRA. 


18. Kal τῷ ἀγγέλῳ τῆς ἐν Θυατείροις ἐκκλησίας γράψον" 
Τάδε λέγει ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ ἔχων τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ 
ὡς φλόγα πυρός, καὶ οἱ πόδες αὐτοῦ ὅμοιοι χαλκολιβάνῳ. 


18. And to the angel of the church of Thyatira write ; These things saith 
ἐδ Son of God, who hath eyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine 
rass. 


(S. ἀγγέλω τῳ.) 

Thyatira, the fourth age of the Church, began when the 
downfall of pagan Rome was accomplished and the Devil was 
chained up for a thousand years (R. xx. I, 2, 3). This gives 
the duration of the fourth Church, and discloses its principal 
feature in relation to the world. It lasted a thousand years, 
and was free from bloody persecution. Thyatira, means to be 
illuminated. Freed from persecution, the Christian faith spread 
over the world and enlightened it. But the body of the Church, 
freed from the tonic of persecution, fell away from its high 
calling and embraced luxury. This message reveals the interior 
condition of the Church of the middle ages, which extended 
from the sixth to the sixteenth century. A thousand years in 
Scripture means not less than a thousand years. The angel of 
the Church in this age was, as a matter of history, the Bishop 
of Rome. 

“ These things saith the Son of God” is a frequent expression 
in S. John’s Gospel, but used in the Apocalypse only here. 
God’s attributes, chosen for this introduction, are, ‘‘ Who hath 
eyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass”’ 
(R. 1. 14, 15). It is a threatening preface. “All things are 
naked and open to his eyes” (Heb. iv. 13). Eyes like flames 
of fire piercing and illuminating the darkest recesses of the 
Church of the middle ages and searching the reins and hearts 
(R. it. 23). ‘“ Feet like unto fine brass,” connote trampling 
down (see R. i. 15, notes). 


156 © THE REVELATION 


The city of Thyatira was situated about forty miles south-east _ 
of Pergamos upon the Imperial post road. When the Apocalypse 
was written, it was a small and unimportant place. ‘The 
smallest and feeblest, and in general estimation the least dis- 
tinguished and famous of all the seven cities, except, perhaps, 
Philadelphia, which might vie with Thyatira for the last place 
on the list... . The history of Thyatira isa blank. ... Its 
character and circumstances in the century after Christ are 
almost unknown” (Ramsay, “ Letters,” 323-332). Thyatira is 
mentioned only once in the Scriptures, and then as a place 
from whence a Jewish or pagan woman was converted to 
Christianity (Acts xvi. 14). If the Ephesian Church was 
scarcely more than thirteen years of age, a dependent and 
unimportant place like Thyatira, which had to wait for mis- 
sionaries from Ephesus or Laodicea, would not be more than 
ten years of age when this warning was written. About the 
last quarter of the second century a sect arose in Asia Minor 
who rejected the Jogos teaching of the fourth Gospel and of the 
Apocalypse. Hence they were called Alogi. According to 
Epiphanius, one of the principal arguments of the Alogi against 
the Apocalypse was that there was no church at Thyatira 
(Heer. li. 3). They were living in the Province, and used this 
argument in serious religious controversy. It was a question 
of fact, and the fact was not denied. 

- The Letter is addressed to the Angel of the Church, but the 
Spirit shows that this angel, like the others, ruled over many 
churches (v. 29). There is a startling contrast between this 
“message” and the local Church to which it is nominally sent. 
The letter to the Church of Thyatira is the longest and one of 
the most important of the seven. It deals with an old and 
well-recognised Church, having an assured and prolonged future. 
There are remarkable predictions about it. And it is said that 
‘* all the Churches shall know” of the fulfilment of one of them. 

If we apply this Letter to the fourth or millennial age of the 
Church, which lasted about a thousand years, it may be said 
to coincide with it from the historic point of view in a remark- 
able manner. This period has been called by the Church “ the 
age of faith,” and by the world “the dark ages.” What the 
world calls ‘‘dark’’ from a spiritual point of view, generally 
means “light.” But both the Church and the world speak of 
this period as the Middle Ages. In this it may be that we 
have ‘‘ built better than we know,” for Thyatira is the middle 
Church of the seven, and consequently stands as the symbol of 
the Church of “the Middle Ages.” 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 157 


, \ ¥ ‘\ Ἀ ’ Ν Ἁ 3 , Ν 

19. Οἶδά σου τὰ ἔργα καὶ τὴν πίστιν καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην καὶ 

‘ 

τὴν διακονίαν καὶ τὴν ὑπομονήν σου, καὶ τὰ ἔργα σου τὰ 
ἔσχατα πλείονα τῶν πρώτων. 


19, I know thy works, and thy faith, and thy charity, and thy ministry, 
and thy patience, and thy last works, which are more than the former. 


S. begins the list of virtues with τῆν ἀγάπην. Bd, follows 
the Vulgate as above. 

This great praise reflects the result of the millennium. At 
R. xx. 3 we are told that the devil was chained up for a 
thousand years. “I know thy works ”—ta ἔργα. The first works 
related to church building and the exterior forms of worship 
which would occupy the attention of a church released from 
persecution. Τὴν πίστιν, “thy faith,” the great characteristic 
of “the age of faith.” Τὴν ἀγάπην, we have had before at 
R. ii. 4, where it is put for the fraternal charity of the Apostolic 
Church. The Church of the middle ages was renowned for its 
care of the poor. Avaxoviay, “ministry,” points also to works 
of mercy, as instruction, attendance on the sick, etc. It 
connotes here ministration in the sense of missionary effort. 
The Apostolic Church halted at the boundaries of the Roman 
world. The Church of the Middle Ages evangelised the 
barbarians of Europe and the outer world. ὝὙπομονήν we have 
had in connection with the Apostolic Church (see R. ii. 2, 3, 
notes). The Church of the Middle Ages, though it escaped 
bloody persecution, was often sorely distressed in many ways. 
Its “angels” or Popes shared the fate of temporal princes in 
turbulent periods, and were, many of them, murdered, exiled, 
imprisoned, or deposed. 

The Papal succession in the middle ages was influenced by 
the haute politique of Europe. ‘There were bad Popes and rival 
Popes ; but the miracle of the Ecclesia Docens, preserving 
unsullied the fountain of Truth, shows through it all. Rome 
had no heresies, nor is it charged with heresy in the Book of 
Revelation. 

“Thy last works which are more than the former,” indicate 
the Council of Trent, which closed the Middle Ages with a 
strenuous effort to put the household of the faith in order. 
This Council decided the Canon of the Scripture, and established 
firmly the doctrines and discipline of the Church. It has been 
called the compendium and completion of all previous Councils. 
It began its sittings in the year 1545, and completed them in 
1563. 

Οἶδα cov τὰ épya—“ I know thy works well ”—is the same 


158 THE REVELATION 


opening as that in the message to the first or Apostolic Church. ~ 
No other age of the Church is eulogised in this way. This 
establishes a link between these two as missionary Churches. 
The comparison of the “last works” with the former ones, 
indicates a Church, whose age must be counted by centuries. 


20. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἔχω κατὰ σοῦ ὅτι adels THY γυναῖκα Ἰεζάβελ, ἡ 
λέγουσα ἑαυτὴν προφῆτιν, καὶ διδάσκει καὶ πλανᾷ τοὺς 
ἐμοὺς δούλους πορνεῦσαι καὶ φαγεῖν εἰδωλόθυτα. 


20. But I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest the 
woman Jezabel, who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce 
my servants to commit fornication, and eat of the things sacrificed to idols. . 


“᾿Ολέγα ᾿᾿ translated ‘a few things” at R. ii. 14, is not in the 
Greek above, which runs: But I have against thee that thou 
sufferest the woman Jezabel ... to teach and to seduce my 
servants (Vg. pauca). 

Jezabel, the wife of Achab, was an unchaste worshipper of 
Baal, see 3 Kings xxi. 25, 26. She killed Naboth, and gave 
his vineyard to Achab. She also slew the prophets of the Lord 
(3 Kings xvi. 31, xviii. 4). She is used symbolically here to 
denote the sins of the Church in the middle ages—avarice and 
lust. The Angel of the Church is reproved because he allowed 
(ἀφεῖς means permittest) ‘‘ my servants ”—“ τοὺς ἐμοὺς δούλους, 
1.6., the hierarchy of the Church, to be taught and seduced into 
fornication and the eating of things sacrificed to idols. These 
expressions in’ the year 67 had a very definite meaning, and 
conjured up the licentious banquets of the heathen temples in 
which wine and woman filled a large part. The Ven. Holz- 
hauser says these things were permitted in the Middle Ages, 
by the neglect of Ecclesiastical discipline. 

The material prosperity of the Church culminated in the 
Middle Ages. Its revenues from lands and property of all 
kinds, from endowments and bequests, increased enormously. 
It became one of the richest institutions of the world. In the 
train of wealth came luxury, and in the lap of luxury lay vice. 
**Then the concupiscence of the flesh, and of the eyes, and the 
pride of life extended to the clergy of the Church. These, 
secure of the indulgence of a corrupt age and thinking it safe to 
do so, gave themselves up to voluptuous living, and fell into pre- 
sumption, as ordinarily happens in such cases. But these were 
the vices of Jezabel, the wife of Achab” (Holzhauser, of. cit., 
Vol. I., p. 145). . : 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 159 


Many of the Popes struggled in vain against the evils which 
afflicted the Church. ‘‘ Pope Leo IX. (1050) exerted himself 
strenuously to restore ecclesiastical discipline throughout the 
Church. He applied himself especially to root out two monster 
evils which were afflicting the Church—simony and _ inconti- 
nence” (‘Catholic Manual of Church History,” p. 138). These 
things are freely recognised by Catholic Historians. See 
“The Popes of the Middle Ages,” L. Pastor, and “ The Lives 
of the Popes in the Early Ages,’ Rev. H. K. Mann. The 
Church makes no claim to impeccability, or sinlessness, either 
as to its head, the Pope, or as to its members individually. It is 
in this book revealed that many of the hierarchy would fall into 
gross sins in the Middle Ages. History tells us that they did so. 


Ἀ »Ἄ 7 A , ν 5 ’ > 
21. Kat ἔδωκα αὐτῇ χρόνον iva μετανοήσῃ, Kar ov 
θέλει μετανοῆσαι ἐκ τῆς πορνείας αὐτῆς. 


21. And I gave her time to do penance, and she will not repent of her 
fornication. 


“Χρόνον, “ time,” is indefinite. It means sufficient time. It 
is predicted that this Church would not repent of her forni- 
cation. Again, history records that it did not repent, until 
compelled to by the chastisements presently foretold. If we 
measure this χρόνος by the extent of God’s mercy to His 
Church, it becomes a long time. We have here a Church 
praised beyond all others for its faith and charity and ministry 
and patience; and for its work of old, and for its last works. 
A very zealous missionary Church, corrupted in time by the 
luxury which came in the train of gradually acquired wealth. 
The historic picture seems to call for the centuries of the 
Middle Ages. 


22. Ἰδοὺ βάλλω αὐτὴν εἰς κλίνην, Kal τοὺς μοιχεύοντας 
μετ᾽ αὐτῆς εἰς θλίψιν μεγάλην, ἐὰν μὴ μετανοήσωσιν ἐκ τῶν 
ἔργων αὐτῶν. 


22. Behold I will cast her into a bed, and they that commit adultery with 
her, shall be in very great tribulation, unless they do penance for their deeds, 


(S. μετανοήσουσιν . . « αὐτης.) 
Βάλλω εἰς κλίνην means to lay low in a bed of sickness, with- 
out violence, as is shown by the use of the verb in Matt. viii. 6, 


160 THE REVELATION 


βέβληται... παραλυτικὸς, “sick of the palsy.”” So also Matt. ix.2 _ 
and Luke xvi. 20. 

“ And they that commit adultery with her.” When those 
who have taken vows of chastity fall into concubinage they 
commit spiritual adultery. The harlot bed, and the bed of 
sickness, form an antithesis. Θλίψιεν μεγάλην is explained at 
R. vii. 14, where “ θλέψεως μεγάλης" stands for “the great 
tribulations” of the martyrs. The sufferings in store for 
the Church will be like those of the martyrs “ unless they do 
penance.” There is always a door open for repentance. But this 
Church will not repent. For that reason her punishments are 
predicted as certain tocome. ‘These are not threats; they are 
decrees, foretold. The nature of the sickness is next revealed. 


23. Kai τὰ τέκνα αὐτῆς ἀποκτενῶ ἐν θανάτῳ" καὶ 
γνώσονται πᾶσαι αἱ ἐκκλησίαι ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἐραυνῶν 
‘ Ν 4 κ 4 ew ε ’ὔ Ν Ὡς » 
νεφροὺς καὶ καρδίας, καὶ δώσω ὑμῖν ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα 

ὑμῶν. 


23. And I will kill her children with death ; and all the churches shall 
know that I am he who searches the reins and hearts; and I will give to 
every one of you according to his works. 


The expression “her children” is contrasted with “ my 
servants” in R. ii. 20 above. The charge of sensuality is made 
against the hierarchy of the Church. But punishment will 
take a wider scope and include her children. When shepherds 
go astray flocks follow. The whole Church is to suffer. 
Θανάτος, “ death,” means pestilence or the plague. It is the 
pale horse which follows our Lord’s command (R. vi. 8, where 
see notes). Prof. M. Stuart says that θανάτος means pestilence 
in Hebrew, in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Rabbinic versions 
of the O.T. (see 2 Sam. xxiv. 13 (“ Th. Apoc.,” vol. II., p. 82). 
Dr. Swete says in a note to R. vi. 8, referring to Lev. xxvi. 23, ff., 
Jer. xxi. 7, Ezech. v. 12-17, xxix. 5, xxxill. 27, and xxxiv. 28, “In 
these O.T. passages ὁ θάνατος is pestilence.” Towards the end 
_ of the Thyatiran age, in the fourteenth century,a great pestilence 
called ‘‘the Black Death,” appeared in the East, and spread 
over Europe, Asia, and Africa. The mortality it caused was 
enormous. It was estimated in various parts of Europe at 
two-thirds or three-fourths of the entire population. Hecker 
calculates that in Europe twenty-five millions died of it. It 
recurred frequently throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth 
centuries, and appeared in London as late as the reign of 
Charles II. In a special manner it seems to have visited the 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 161 


clergy ; dioceses were left without Bishops, parishes without 
priests, monasteries without monks. 

Abbot Gasquet, O.S.B., in his book “The Great Pesti- 
lence,” gives a graphic account of this “" Black Death,” which 
should be read by.all who wish to understand this message to 
Thyatira. Writing especially of England, he says in his preface : 
“In truth, this great pestilence was a turning-point in the 
national life. It formed the real close of the Medizval period 
and the beginning of our Modern age.” 

He attributed the great religious upheaval of the sixteenth 
century in some measure to the absence of religion, due to the 
want of clergy. It is a strange coincidence that he should 
recognise as a landmark of Church history, one of the most 
important boundaries in the Apocalypse—the end of Thyatira. 

“1 am he who searches the reins and hearts,’’ Nedpovs, ‘‘ the 
reins,” or “ kidneys” symbolise concupiscence in the O.T.; and 
the heart, “the desires of the heart,” see Jer. xi. 20, xvii. Io, 
Ps. vii. 10. “Ο Lord of Hosts, the prover of the just, who 
seest the reins and hearts” (Jer. xx. 12). ‘‘ Eyes as a flame of 
fire” pierce the reins and hearts and lay bare the thoughts and 
desires of mans 

“And I will give to every one of you according to his works,” 
is a frequent warning in the Apocalypse. It seems to be 
connected here with the far-seeing eyes of God, as in Jeremias. 
“ Whose eyes are open on all the ways of the children of Adam 
to render to every man according to his ways” (xxxii. 10). 

The local Church of Thyatira and the other six Churches of 
the Apocalypse occupied an area about twice the size of York- 
shire, through which a constant stream of traffic flowed. The 
tules of hygiene were altogether unknown in this crowded and 
insanitary area. Plague or pestilence is remarkably contagious. 
Given an outbreak of plague at Thyatira it would rapidly 
involve the whole area. “In the epidemic of the fourteenth 
century,” Hecker remarks, “Tartary, Mesopotamia, Syria, 
Armenia, were covered with dead bodies. ... In Caramania 
and Czsarea none were left alive. On the roads, in the camp, 
in the caravansaries unburied bodies were alone to be seen ” 
(“ The Epidemics of the Middle Ages,” p. 21). At that time the 
Seven Churches of Asia had ceased to exist. According to 
Gibbon, the great plague, ‘‘ which depopulated the earth in the 
time of Justinian . . . spread to the East over Syria, Persia 
and the Indies” (‘‘ Decline and Fall,” iii., p. 162). Whatever 
plagues there were in that part of Asia Minor, all the Churches, 
we may be sure, suffered alike. Hence it appears that it is not 
Thyatira of Asia Minor but the fourth age of the Church that 
is in question. 

II 


162 THE REVELATION 


“And all the Churches shall know.” All the Churches in 
communion with the “ Angel of Thyatria” in the fourteenth 
and fifteenth centuries knew of this plague—the Black Death, 
and knew that it was a visitation from God. 


24. Ὑμῖν δὲ λέγω τοῖς λοιποῖς τοῖς ἐν Θυατείροις, ὅσοι 
οὐκ ἔχουσιν τὴν διδαχὴν ταύτην, οἵτινες οὐκ ἔγνωσαν τὰ 
’ὔ “~ “ ε 4 > 4 37>? Lal 3» 
βαθέα τοῦ Σατανᾶ, ὡς λέγουσιν. Οὐ βάλλω ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς ἄλλο 

βάρος. 
24. And to the rest who are at Thyatira. Whosoever have not this 


doctrine, and who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will 
not put upon you any other weight. 


I say to you, “Ὑμῖν, collectively, is not in the Latin 
Vulgate or the English version. Τοῖς λοιποῖς, “the rest,” 
means a large proportion, see R. ix. 20, and R. xii. 17, where 
the dragon failing to hurt the woman, “ went to make war with 
‘the rest’ (( τῶν λοιπῶν.) of her seed,” that is with the whole 
Church. ‘Who are at Thyatira” means who belong to the 
Church of the Middle Ages. r 

** Whosoever have not this doctrine”’ refers back to the teach- 
ing of Jezabel at R. ii. 20. ‘*‘ Who have not known the depths 
of Satan,” refers to the results of that teaching. ‘The depths 
of Satan” is, probably, the antithesis of τὰ βάθη τοῦ θεοῦ in 
I Cor. ii. το. ‘Os Aéyouow— as the saying is,” indicates a 
colloquial generalisation of the same kind as the expression 
‘the depth of wickedness” in our own day. ‘“‘ Doctrine” is 
hardly the right English word to use in connection with fornica- 
tion and simony in the Church. There was no such doctrine in 
existence. Dr. Swete says of “τὴν διδαχὴν ταύτην," “ Doctrine” | 
is an unfortunate rendering, suggesting a logical system rather 
than a heterogeneous mass of wild speculations and loose views 
of life (op. cit., p. 45). “1 will not put upon you any other 
weight.” The rest, who had not fallen into evil ways, were, 
of course, the millions of good Christians who lived in the 
Church of the Middle Ages. 

Many great saints appeared in Thyatira: 

5. Columban, 5. Theodore, 8. Gregory I. (Pope), S. Augustine 
of Canterbury, S. Gertrude, S. Wilfrid of York, S. Martin I. 
(Pope), 5. Eugenius I. (Pope), S. Leo II. (Pope), S. Benedict 11. 
(Pope), S. Benedict (Bishop), S. Boniface, S. John of Beverley, 
S. Zachary (Pope), S. Leo III. (Pope), S. Pascal I. (Pope), 
S: Ignatius of Constantinople, S. Neot of Glastonbury, 
S. Bruno, S. Odo of Canterbury, S. Dunstan of Canterbury, 
S. Stephen of Hungary, S. Leo IX. (Pope), S. Peter Damian, 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 163 


S. Gregory VII. (Pope), S. Bernard, S. Thomas of Canterbury, 
S. Dominic, S. Francis of Assisi, S. Clare, S. Anthony of Padua, 
S. Elizabeth of Hungary, S. Louis of France, S. Edmund 
(Bishop), S. Thomas Aquinas, S. Bonaventure, S. Celestine V. 
(Pope), S. Benedict XI. (Pope), S. Bridget, 5. Catherine οὗ. 
Siena, Thomas a Kempis, and S. Francis of Paula, etc., etc. 

“Not . .. any other weight ” than that caused by the Black 
Death. There was to be no Persecution. Persecution is 
symbolised by “ pressure "-πθλῆψις. 


25. Πλὴν ὃ ἔχετε κρατήσατε ἄχρι od av ἥξω. 
25. Yet that which you have, hold fast till I come. 


“That which you have” refers to the “last works” which were 
“more than the first,” viz., the rule of faith as laid down by the 
Council of Trent. Hold fast the true faith “till I come.” It 
is a significant commentary on this that Thyatira, now called 
Akhissa, is a Mohammedan town containing a few Greek 
Orthodox Christians, and that it ceased to hold the faith 
centuries ago. But it may be hinted that the Church of the 
millennium has also passed away. It has not gone but is 
changed, through Sardis, into the present day Church of 
Philadelphia. And the admonition is changed from, ‘ That 
which you have, hold fast till I come” into, “ Behold, I come 
quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no man may 
take thy crown.” 


Ν ε a ε “ 3, 4 Ν ¥ 
26. Kai ὁ νικῶν και ὁ τηρῶν ἄχρι τέλους τὰ ἔργα μου, 
δώσω αὐτῷ ἐξουσίαν ἐπὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν. 


26, And he that shall overcome and keep my works unto the end, I will 
give him power over the nations. 


“Overcome,” in this case, means conquering temptations and 
overcoming all obstacles in the way of “my works unto the 
end.” ‘My works” are those last works especially commended. 
In the wreck of local Churches following ‘‘ the Black Death,” 
it was no easy matter to keep the faith alive. But to him that 
shall overcome, “1 will give him power over the nations.’’ This 
is addressed to the Angel of the Churches, and means spiritual 
power. This promise has been cut into two separate verses. 
The next verse indicates that the gift of τῶν ἐθνῶν, “the 


164 THE REVELATION 


Gentiles,” refers to heathen nations, not yet converted to the 
faith. That was the meaning of τῶν ἐθνῶν in 8. John’s day. 
ἄχρι TéXMovs— unto the end”—looks forward to the end of 
this Church, as the angel of the Church is addressed. 


Ν A > Ν > ces “A ε Ν ’ 
27. Καὶ ποιμανεῖ αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ, ὡς τὰ σκεύη 
τὰ κεραμικὰ συντρίβεται, ὡς κἀγὼ εἴληφα παρὰ τοῦ πατρός 
μου. 


27. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and as the vessel of a 
potter they shall be broken, even as I received from my Father. 


This is the continuation of the promise made in the last verse. 
The rod of iron was the crook, tipped with iron, with which the 
shepherd ruled his sheep, and broke up the potsherds which 
endangered their feet. It was adopted as the crozier or 
pastoral staff; the symbol of a bishop’s rule over his Church. 
Psalm ii. 8,9, from which the symbol is taken, relate to the 
conversion of the heathen. “Ask of me and I will give thee 
the Gentiles for thy inheritance and the utmost parts of the 
earth for thy possession. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of 
iron, and shalt break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 

At the close of the Thyatiran era two great saints arose who 
were destined to recoup the losses of the Church. One in 
Europe, the other abroad—S. Ignatius Loyola, and S. Francis 
Xavier, 1521-1552. S. Francis Xavier and other Jesuits devoted 
their lives to missionary effort in India and Japan. From 1498 
to 1515 Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, Sebastian 
Cabot, Vasco da Gama, and Jacques Cortier, made numerous 
expeditions to North and South America, and a new and rich 
missionary field was opened to the Church. The Portuguese 
in Africa gave other openings to the faith, so that it may be 
said that what the Church lost at home, she gained abroad. 

“Even as I received from my Father” is omitted from this 
verse, and prefixed to the next in the Vulgate. It is cha- 
racteristic of our Lord’s teaching, and has reference to the rod 


in Psalm ii. 8, 9, above. 


28. Kal δώσω αὐτῷ τὸν ἀστέρα τὸν πρωϊνόν. 
28. And I will give him the morning star. 


The reward is taken, as usual, from the end of the Book, 
where we read: “ I am the root and stock of David, the bright 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 165 


and morning star” (R. xxii. 16). Showing that the Book, from 
beginning to end, was sent to the Churches, and is all one 
connected prophecy. 


a " ΓΙ: 
29. Ὁ ἔχων οὖς ἀκουσάτω τί τὸ Πνεῦμα λέγει ταῖς 
ἐκκλησίαις. 


29. He that μαίῃ δὴ ear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches. 


The mandate of the Holy Spirit to apply one’s mind to the 
understanding of the message is especially called for here, for 
the fourth is the Key message of the Seven. Asa chain is no 
stronger than its weakest link, the literal interpretation of the 
messages breaks down hopelessly at Thyatira. The scarcely 
known and long forgotten households of the faith in ancient 
Thyatira had no part in this wonderful forecast of the Church 
of the Middle Ages. 


CHAPTER III 
SARDIS. 


1. Kal τῷ ἀγγέλῳ τῆς ἐν Σάρδεσιν ἐκκλησίας γράψον. 
Τάδε λέγει ὁ ἔχων τὰ ἑπτὰ πνεύματα τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τοὺς ἑπτὰ 
ἀστέρας 3 Οἶδά σου τὰ ἔργα, ὅτι ὄνομα ἔχεις ὅτι ζῇς, καὶ 
νεκρὸς εἶ. 


1. And to the angel of the Church of Sardis write ; These things saith he 
who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, 
that thou hast the name of being alive, and thou art dead. 


The City of Sardis was situated on the great Roman road, 
about thirty miles south-east of Thyatira. Sir W. Ramsay says, 
“When the seven letters were written, Sardis was a city of the 
past, which had no future before it” (“‘ Letters,” p. 368). It is 
now a hamlet, called Sart, ruled by the Turks, and there is no 
Christian Church there. Nothing is known of the angel of this 
Church in the year 67 Α.Ὁ., and very little about the Church 
itself. Its ecclesiastical history is almost a blank. Eusebius 
tells us that Melito, Bishop of Sardis (165-196), wrote a com- 
mentary on the Apocalypse of S. John. As a symbol of the 
fifth age of the Church it extended from the Council of Trent to 


166 THE REVELATION 


the first half of the nineteenth century, a period of about 
280 years. During the greater part of this time the Church 
suffered persecution in one direction or another. 

The Sardian age is commonly known as the Reformation 
period; the Church periods, foretold by Revelation, have come 
to pass. The beginning of the Reformation era was character- 
ised by a widespread revolt against the Church, accompanied 
by much bloodshed, settling down in some countries into a 
prolonged and bloody persecution of the Church. 

This is distinctly foretold in that part of Revelation devoted 
to the history of the Church and the world. We are told 
that “when the thousand years shall be finished, Satan shall 
be loosed out of his prison and shall go forth and seduce 
the nations which are over the four quarters of the earth” 
(R. xx. 7). 

The Church of Sardis, 1.6., of the fourth age, inherited from 
the Middle Ages a bad name, an enfeebled constitution, and 
corrupt morals. The Ven. Holzhauser, a Swiss Ecclesiastic 
who lived in Germany in this age, gives a deplorable account of 
its early condition. He says that it failed to profit by the 
lesson of the black death. Laxity and sin were common 
amongst the clergy, and a widespread impatience of doctrinal 
belief, which enabled the heresiarchs of that time to carry away 
large sections of the Church (of. cit., Vol. I. p. 147, f.). ‘* The 
Letters of B. Peter Canisius, S.J. (1565-1567) are still more out- 
spoken,” Braunsberger, Vol. V. pp. 80, 135, 142, 175, 402, 516, 
667). Holzhauser looked to persecution to renew the strength 
and beauty of the Church. According to him the word 
* Sardis” signifies the origin or cause of beauty. 

To this enfeebled Church our Lord identifies Himself as ‘‘ he 
who has the seven Spirits of God, and the Seven Stars.” He 
who sends forth the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and who holds the 
angels of the Churches in His strong right hand (see R.i. 4, 16). 
This opening is encouraging. It promises well for the future of 
the Church. It is like the introduction to the message to the 
Apostolic Church. “He who holdeth the Seven Stars” 
GE ee 7). 

“1 know thy works.”’ Usually the good works are mentioned 
first, but this Church gets no praise at all. It has the name of 
being alive, but it is dead. Dead ina spiritual sense. ‘ Dead 
in your offences and sins” (Eph. ii. 1; see also Col. ii. 13). 
Holzhauser puts it that there was much exterior show of piety, 
but that interior death was prevalent, in the shape of pride, 
hypocrisy and luxury. 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 167 


2. Tivov γρηγορῶν, καὶ στήρισον τὰ λοιπὰ ἃ ἔμελλον 
ἀποθανεῖν. οὐ γὰρ εὕὗρηκά σου ἔργα πεπληρωμένα ἐνώπιον 
τοῦ Θεοῦ μου. 


2. Be watchful and strengthen the things that remain, which are ready to . 
die. For I find not thy works full before my God. 


In countries which fell away from the Church and persecuted 
it, the Church was ready to die for want of priests. A few 
things remained, however, and the Angel of the Church is told 
to be watchful and strengthen those things. In the Latin 
countries, which escaped the purifying fires of persecution, the 
Church was still intoxicated with the riches and luxury of the 
millennium ; there also a few things remained. The Council 
of Trent, which closed the Middle Ages, influenced the whole 
Church for good, especially in all matters of faith. But the 
works were not adequate. “1 find not thy works full before my 
God.” There is relative, but not absolute, censure. There is 
merit, but not enough. S. John uses the word πεπληρωμένα, 
* full, >in his first and second Epistles, “ that your joy may be 
full” (x Jhn. i. 4, 2 Jhn. 12.). 

Holzhauser interprets “be watchful and strengthen,” as 
addressed to the Angel of the Church of Sardis, in this way. Be 
vigilant in appointing good bishops, in correcting bad ones and 
supporting good ones. Be vigilant against those whose lives 
givescandal. Be vigilant in putting down heresies. Holzhauser’s 
views are worth quoting, as those of an ecclesiastic on the spot. 
He was ordained in 1639. 


3: Μνημόνευε οὖν πῶς εἴληφας καὶ “ἥκουσας, καὶ τήρει 
καὶ μετανόησον. ἐὰν οὖν μὴ γρηγορήσῃς, ἥξω ἐπὶ σὲ ὡς 
κλέπτης, καὶ οὐ μὴ γνῷς ποίαν ὥραν ἥξω ἐπὶ σέ. 


3. Have in mind therefore in what manner thou hast received and heard ; 
and observe and do penance. If then thou shalt not watch, I will come to 
thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know at what hour I will come to thee. 


(S. omits the first ἐπὶ σὲ Vg.=Veniam ad te tanquam fur.) 

Professor M. Stuart interprets εἴληφας as learning—doctrinal 
instruction, and ἤκουσας as referring to oral instruction. Τήρει, 
Keep them in mind. Holzhauser develops the sense in this 
way, Remember why you were consecrated, the graces you 
have received, the teaching of the Apostles in Holy Scripture, of 
the Councils, especially of the Council of Trent, and the 
religious instruction you have received in preparation for the 
priesthood, etc. (op. cit., 172 ff.). 


168 THE REVELATION 


“1 will come to thee as a thief.” This threat is addressed to 
the Prelates, the Servants of God in the Age of Sardis, or 
Reformation period. Τρηγορῶν occurs again at R. xvi. 15, ina 
passage which has a personal significance. It is found also in 
a like sense in Mark xiii. 33. Where persecution existed the 
clergy of all grades carried their lives constantly in their hands. 
In Great Britain especially they were laying the foundations of 
the sixth Church, Philadelphia, at the risk of their lives. But 
the opulent Churches of the Latin races were not immune from 
suffering. The French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars 
-arried death and destruction into their ranks and property. 
3efore the age of Sardis closed, England became the refuge of 
many exiled priests and nuns, who helped to prepare the way 
for Philadelphia. 


»ν 


4. ᾿Αλλὰ ἔχεις ὀλίγα ὀνόματα ἐν Σάρδεσιν ἃ οὐκ ἐμόλυναν 
τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν, καὶ περιπατήσουσιν μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ ἐν λευκοῖς, 
ὅτι ἀξιοί εἰσιν. 


4. But thou hast a few names in Sardis which have not defiled their 
garments ; and they shall walk with me in white, because they are worthy. ἢ 


It was a common custom of writers in the first and second 
centuries to put ὀνόματα, “names,” for people. It is often found 
in the N.T. (See Acts i. 15 and R. xi. 13.) There were many 
great saints in this age, notably, S. Charles Borromeo, S. Philip 
Neri, S. Francis de Sales, S. Vincent de Paul, S. Francis 
Borgia, S. Theresa, S. Louis Gonzaga, and S. Alphonsus 
Ligouri, and a great company of martyrs. Many of the great 
reforming Orders of the Church came into being. The Jesuits’ 
“Society” was organised. The Oratorians, the Lazarists, the 
Sulpicians, the Christian Brothers, the Ursulines, and the 
Order of the Visitation, were established. ‘‘ Which have not 
defiled their garments.” Μολύνειν stands for actual pollution 
with blood (Gen. xxxvii. 31, Isa. lix. 3). Here the reference is 
to the sins of the period. ‘ They shall walk with me in white, 
because they are worthy ” applies to all the saints and martyrs 
of this age. They were the authors of the “ Counter Reforma- 
tion,” which purified and rejuvenated the Church. Stainless 
souls, they walked in white. This promise looks forward to the 
Bride of the Lamb. “ And to her it hath been granted that she 
should clothe herself with fine linen, glittering white. For the 
fine linen is the justification of the saints” (R. xix. 8). 

But there is further reference to white garments in the next 
verse. , 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 169 


ε lal WA Lal > ε ’ Ἂ Ν 

5. Ὁ νικῶν, οὕτως περιβαλεῖται ἐν ἱματίοις λευκοῖς, καὶ 

> : .8 ’ \ » 5 τ REE lal / Cal na Q 

ov μὴ ἐξαλείψω τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῆς βίβλου τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ 

ὁμολογήσω τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐνώπιον τοῦ πατρός μου καὶ 
ἐνώπιον τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ. 


5. He that shall overcome shall thus be clothed in white garments, and I 
will not blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name 
before my Father, and before his angels. 


“ He that shall overcome shall thus be clothed in white 
arments ” suggests, at first sight, martyrdom, especially as 
ὁ νικῶν often connotes martyrdom in this Book. But the 
martyrs are given “ white robes,”’ στολὴ λευκή, at R. vi. 11; and 
when they appear in heaven at R. vii. 9, they are seen to be 
wearing “white robes,” στολὰς λευκάς. These “robes” are 
distinctive of the martyrs throughout the Revelation. ‘‘ White 
garments ”’ are worn by the saints in heaven. In the next 
chapter four-and-twenty ancients are seen in a vision of heaven, 
seated on thrones and clothed in white garments, ἱματίοις 
λευκοῖς, the same Greek words as above. ‘This promise to the 
Church of Sardis, therefore, looks forward to the vision of the 
throne of God. 

The promised reward of “the book of life” is taken from the 
vision of the last judgment. “1 saw the dead, great and small, 
standing before the throne, and the books were opened and 
another book was opened, which is the book of life” 
(R. xx. 12). ‘‘And whoever was not found written in the 
Book of life was cast into the pool of fire” (R. xx. 15). It is 
the promise of eternal reward. 

‘And I will confess his name before my Father.” ‘ Whoso- 
ever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of Man 
also confess before the angels of God ” (Luke xii. 8). Contrast 
this with the opposite warning in Matt. x. 32. In the days of 
the Penal Laws it required great courage to confess the 
Catholic Faith. It was death to be a priest or to conceal a 
priest, or to become a convert to the Catholic Church, or to 
gain aconvert. Fines and imprisonment were inflicted on those 
who neglected to attend the Protestant Church. And there 
were many other penal disabilities in England. In Scotland 
from 1560 to 1746 A.D. the persecution was worse. Refusal to 
attend Protestant worship was treason. Fines, imprisonment, 
banishment, confiscation of estates, torture and death were the 
lot of Catholics. In Ireland an attempt was made to ex- 
terminate the population because of its faith. The poet 


70 THE REVELATION 


Spenser relates of the province of Munster: ‘Out of every 
corner of the wood and glynns they came creeping forth upon 
their hands, for their legs could not bear them; they looked 
like anatomies of death; they spoke like ghosts crying out of 
the grave. ... Inashort space there was none almost left, 
and a most populous and plentiful country suddenly left void of 
man and beast " (Spenser’s “ State of Ireland,” p. 165). They 
were even sold into slavery. Lecky relates how slave dealers 
were let loose on the land, who captured boys and girls and 
shipped them off to Barbadoes, where they were herded with 
negroes and treated as slaves. 


6. Ὁ ἔχων οὖς ἀκουσάτω τί τὸ Πνεῦμα λέγει ταῖς 
εκκλησίαις. 


6. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches. 


It is difficult to make a comparison between the above 
message and Sardis of Asia Minor, chiefly because we know 
nothing about the local Church except that with the rest it 
passed into the hands of Greek schismatics and disappeared in 
the fourteenth century. 


PHILADELPHIA. 


7. Kal τῷ ἀγγέλῳ τῆς ἐν Φιλαδελφίᾳ ἐκκλησίας γράψον ; 
Τάδε λέγει ὁ ἅγιος, ὁ ἀληθινός, ὁ ἔχων τὴν κλεῖν τοῦ Δαυείδ, 
ὁ ἀνοίγων καὶ οὐδεὶς κλείσει, καὶ κλείων καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀνοίγει. 


7. And to the angel of the church of Philadelphia write ; These things 
saith the Holy One and the True One, who hath the key of David : he that 
openeth, and no man shutteth ; shutteth and no man openeth. 


(S. omits Tod.) 

Philadelphia is about thirty miles south of Sardis on the high 
road. It is one of the least important cities of the province. 
Pliny mentions nine cities of Asia which were centres of a 
conventus (H. N., v. 29). Philadelphia and Thyatira are not 
amongst the number, showing them to have been small places. 

Philadelphia still exists as a Turkish town, under the name 
of Ala-Shehr. It is the seat of a Greek Orthodox bishop. 
The prevailing religion is Mohammedan. Since the fifteenth 
century the Crescent has dominated the Cross in Asia Minor. 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 171 


This Letter, like the rest, is addressed to “‘the Angel”’ of the 
Period. This sixth age of the Church, represented by Phila- 
delphia, began in the first half of the nineteenth century, and 
ail oonisnae until the Laodicean age, an unknown date. Phila- 
oe means “ Brotherly love,” the motto of the age in which 
we live. 

The Ven. Holzhauser seems to have been inspired when he 
foretold that a saintly pope and a powerful Christian monarch 
would appear in the beginning of this age, and help the revival 
of the persecuted Church. We cannot be far wrong in coupling 
the names of Pius IX. (1846) and the Queen-Empress Victoria 
(1837) with the opening of the Philadelphian age. Pius IX. 
was a saintly and much-tried Pope. He was the fugitive of 
Gaeta, and ended his days as the prisoner of the Vatican. He 
stands out from the line of Popes conspicuous by reason of his 
having been robbed of the temporal power, and pre-eminent by 
reason of his having raised two doctrines of the Church to the 
dignity of dogmas. He it was who promulgated the dogma of 
the Immaculate Conception, which means that the Blessed 
Virgin alone of all the children of Adam was free from the stain 
of original sin. He also promulgated the dogma of the 
Infallibility of the Pope, which means that, when the Pope 
defines a doctrine in faith or morals to be held by the whole 
Church, he is guided by the Holy Ghost, and is infallible. 

Queen Victoria was a contemporary of Pius IX., and fills the 
role of the great Christian monarch predicted by Holzhauser. 
In the Victorian era there grew up an empire such as the world 
has never seen; an empire upon which the sun never sets; 
beneath whose flag of freedom the Church has been free to ex- 
pand in the four quarters of the globe. What the Roman 
Empire did to pave the way for Christianity, this, and much 
more, has the British Empire done for the Church in the 
Victorian era. The spirit of civil and religious liberty lives on 
in the descendants of the great Queen-Empress, who now reign 
in more than half the kingdoms of the world, eg., the British 
Empire, the German Empire, the Russian Empire, Denmark, 
Greece, Holland, Norway, and Spain. 

The parallelism between England and Rome is remarkable. 
Both by their conquests threw open a vast field to the mission- 
ary enterprise of the Church, and both, by persecution, purified 
the Church and fitted it for its great mission. The likeness 
ends there however, for whereas pagan Rome died impenitent 
(see R. ix. 20) Christian England rose to a new and better life at 
the beginning of this era. 

The Oxford movement was one of its earliest manifestations. 
We may date it with the conversion of Newman in 1845. The 


172 THE REVELATION 


great names of Newman and Manning fill the page of history 
and obscure the lesser lights, but hundreds of good men 
brought up in Protestant faiths gave up all and joined the 
despised Church. At the same time there grew up in the 
minds of Britons of all denominations a truer Christian spirit. 
Voices are even now heard pleading for the reunion of the 
Churches. 

“And to the Angel of the Church of Philadelphia write.” 
The Bishops of Rome of this age are addressed as the Angels 
of the Churches. The local Church of Philadelphia in Asia 
Minor was without a bishop in the year 67. Its churches are 
unknown. 

“Holy and true” occurs again at R. vi. 10, the martyr’s 
cry to God, ὁ δεσπότης ὁ ἅγιος καὶ ἀληθινός, where δεσπότης 
stands for the supreme despotic power. ᾿Αληθινός, “true,” 
occurs again towards the close of the Book in contexts meant 
to impress us with the certainty of the judgments, the pre- 
dictions, and the promises made in this Book (R. xix. 2, 9-11, 
ΧΆ, 5, XXli. 6). 

“Who hath the key of David.” The prophet Isaias says,. 
“And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his 
shoulder, and he shall open and none shall shut” (xxii. 22). 
This is a promise of dominion over the Kingdom of Judah. It 
connects with the angel Gabriel’s salutation, “And the Lord 
God shall give unto him the throne of David his father, .. . 
and of his Kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke i. 32, 33). 

At R. v. 5 our Lord is described as “ the Lion of the tribe of 
Judah, the Root of David.” And at the end of Revelation 
Jesus says, “I am the root and stock of David ” (R. xxii. 16). 

This encouraging opening leads up to the promise of the next 
verse, which predicts a great expansion of the Kingdom. 


8. Οἷἶδά σου τὰ ἔργα" ἰδοὺ δέδωκα ἐνώπιόν σου θύραν 
ἀνεῳγμένην, ἣν οὐδεὶς δύναται κλεῖσαι αὐτήν" ὅτι μικρὰν 
ἔχεις δύναμιν, καὶ ἐτήρησάς μου τὸν λόγον καὶ οὐκ ἠρνήσω 
TO ὄνομά μου. 

8. I know thy works. Behold I have given before thee a door opened, 


which no man can shut, because thou hast a little strength, and hast kept 
my word, and hast not denied my name. 


“I know thy works,” viz., “ because thou hast a little 
strength, and hast kept my words, and hast not denied my 
name.” Observe how this message connects with that of 
Sardis. ‘ Be watchful and strengthen the things that remain ” 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 173 


(R. iii. 2). The persecuted Church of Sardis did strengthen 
the things left to it by the “ last acts” of the Middle Ages, the 
word of God in the Council of Trent. It is praised because it, 
a greatly enfeebled Church, “had a little strength,” and “kept 
my words,” and did not deny the name of Jesus. Dr. Swete 
remarks that "Erjpnods .. . οὐκ ἠρνήσω “ point to some period 
of trial now for the moment gone by” (of. cit., p. 55). It 
refers to previous sufferings in the age of Sardis. The same 
may be said of ἐτήρησάς in the opening sentence of verse Io. 
It was promised to the fifth Church. “He that shall over- 
come, I will confess his name” (R. iii. 5). 

*“‘ Behold I have given before thee a door opened, which no man 
can shut.’ The open door extends the metaphor of the key. 
It means that the Church will enjoy freedom in this present 
age and that a great many who are not of the fold will enter 
her portals. So God “opened the door of faith unto the 
Gentiles” (Acts xiv. 26). “For a great door and evident is 
opened unto me” (1 Cor. xvi. 9). S. Paul says again, “ When 
I was come to Troas for the gospel of Christ, and a door was 
opened unto me in the Lord” (2 Cor. ii. 12). ‘‘ Praying withal 
for us also that God may open unto us a door of speech, to 
speak the mystery of Christ” (Col. iv. 3). This wonderful 
prediction of the open door is made to the Church in this our 
own age. And it is made by God with a display of strength 
and an assurance of its certitude, that make it impossible to 
doubt it. It means an extraordinary expansion of the Church 
in this age. The next verse develops further the meaning of 
the promise. It means expansion by conversions. 


9. Ἰδοὺ διδῶ ἐκ τῆς συναγωγῆς τοῦ σατανᾶ, τῶν λεγόντων 
ε Ἀ 3 ’ὔ > \ > > Ν 3 Ν , > A 
ἑαυτοὺς Ἰουδαίους εἶναι, καὶ οὐκ εἰσὶν, ἀλλὰ ψεύδονται ἰδοὺ 
ποιήσω αὐτοὺς ἵνα ἥξουσιν καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν ἐνώπιον 
ἴω lal “ ν 4 , 
TOV ποδῶν σου, καὶ γνῶσιν OTL ἐγὼ ἠγάπησά σε. 


9. Behold I will bring of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews, 
and are not, but do lie. Behold I will make them to come and adore before 
thy feet. And they shall know that I have loved thee. 


Διδῶ, translated “I will bring,” comes from the verb δίδωμι, 
“to give” —dabo Vg. It is one of the many gifts promised to 
the Churches in these Letters. 

This prediction corresponds with that of Isaias. ‘ They shall 
worship thee, and shall make supplication to thee, only in thee 
is God, and there is no God besides thee”’ (xlv. 14). 


174 THE REVELATION 


“The synagogue of Satan” at first sight seems to refer to 

the Jews. But Jews, so far, have shown no disposition to become 
Christians, although the age of Philadelphia is far advanced. 
The early Church looked upon the Jews who rejected the 
Messias as false Jews. As 5. Paul taught, it was not the exterior 
observance but the inward spirit that marked the true Jew of 
his timé. But the Jews of to-day “who say they are Jews,” 
in point of fact, are Jews, and are accepted as such by the 
whole world. "We may look upon the Jews in this passage as 
figurative. In wording a message to the nineteenth century in 
a book given to the first, it was necessary to employ the symbols 
of the first century. This promise is a continuation and specific 
illustration of the “door opened.” It means that even those 
Christians who were zealous in persecuting the Church afore- 
time, in the erroneous belief that they were serving God, would 
be converted to the one true fold, and make submission to the 
Vicar of Christ. The synagogue indicates in a special manner 
the ministers or clergy of other faiths, a great number of 
whom have, as a matter of fact, joined the Catholic Church in 
our time. 
- The growth of the Church in America illustrates the open 
door. The New York Journal published statistics (in the 
year 1908) of the Catholic population, showing 3,000,000 in 
1856, at the beginning of the Philadelphian era, and “ between 
thirteen and fifteen millions” in 1908. 

The prediction of “the open door” cannot be applied to 
the local Church of Philadelphia in Asia. It was never a 
famous, populous, or opulent Church. We have the writings 
of S. Ignatius of Antioch, Eusebius and others, but there is not 
the slightest indication of anything of the kind at Philadelphia. 
Quite the contrary. What missionary effort there was in Asia 
Minor proceeded from Ephesus, or Laodicea, and later from 
Antioch. Its door so far from being open was closed centuries 
ago. By no stretch of the imagination can we apply this letter 
_toit. We know the broad lines of its history, how it shared in 
the general excommunication of the Greek Church pronounced 
by Leo IX., and how its door was closed by the Turks. It 
belongs to the past, and these predictions have not been fulfilled 
in its regard. But prophecies are not made void. This letter 
indicates the sixth age in which we live, and not the vanished 
Church of Asia Minor. 

There is still greater difficulty in applying this prediction to 
the local Jews of Philadelphia. Considering all that we see in 
the Acts of the Apostles of the anti-Christian tone and temper 
of the Jews in Asia Minor in the first century; considering, 
also, that the synagogue of Satan is accused of ‘“ blaspheming”’ 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 175 


the Church of Smyrna, not far from Philadelphia; considering, 
again, that there is no record of Jewish conversions at Phila- 
delphia, either in Christian or Jewish writings, it does not 
appear that we can read this message into the history of the 
local Church. Besides, it is not easy to understand why Jews 
should recognise the Divine mission of the Church of Phila- 
delphia and not that of the neighbouring cities with which they 
were in daily communication. 

There is no reason why the Jews should “come and adore 
before the Church of Philadelphia,” passing by the more im- 
posing Churches of Ephesus, Laodicea, Smyrna and Pergamos, 
where in fact the Jews were chiefly congregated. The history 
of Antioch, which became the Mother Church of the Seven 
Churches of Asia Minor, is known. Antioch was noted by 
historians for the frequent collisions between the Jews and 
Christians which took place there. There was much bloodshed 
in these conflicts from the fourth to the seventh century 
(Leclercq, Dict. d’Arch. et de Liturg. chap. i. col. 2396). 


10. Ὅτι ἑτήρησας τὸν λόγον τῆς ὑπομονῆς pov, κἀγώ σε 
τηρήσω έκ τῆς ὥρας τοῦ πειρασμοῦ τῆς μελλούσης ἔρχεσθαι 
ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκουμένης ὅλης, πειράσαι TOUS κατοικοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς 
γῆς. 

το. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee 


from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon the whole world to 
tempt them that dwell upon the earth. 


In verse 8, the Church is praised for having “ kept my word, 
and hast not denied my name.” This is developed here into 
“the word of my patience.’”’ Compare “τῆς ὑπομονῆς pov” 
with τὴν ὑπομονὴν τοῦ χριστοῦ, “the patience of Christ” 
(2 Thess. iii. 5), and with ὑπομονή τῶν ἁγίων, in R. xiv. 12, 
where the patience of the saints is explained, “‘as of those who 
keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” 
Because of this, another recompense is promised. “I will keep 
thee from the hour of temptation.” An hour is used in this 
Book to denote a long period, as at R. xiv. 7, ‘the hour of his 
judgment is come,” on the Roman Empire, understood. That 
hour lasted more than a century. 

Πειρασμός means temptation to sin of some kind, in the 
ordinary sense of the word. This temptation shall come upon 
the whole world. A distinct prediction of a wide-spread 
temptation. “To tempt them that dwell upon the earth.” 
"Er? τῆς yns is put in this Book for the opponents of the 


176 THE REVELATION 


Church. There is one temptation which has spread over a. 
great part of the world, with the sanction of legality. Divorce 
is its name. It would be difficult for a writer in the first 
century to characterise it in plain language. It means 
polygamy and polyandria, for those who can afford the cost 
of divorce-court proceedings. And the solicitude of the 
world in this “hour” is to make it cheaper and easier; to 
extend its benefits to the poor! The moral and physical ruin 
brought into family life by divorce is not before us, but the 
extent of the evil is. Its geographical extent is known. It is 
widespread. Its latitude, in another direction, may be gauged 
by an announcement in the American papers at the close of 
the 19th century. They chronicled the marriage of a lady 
to her eighth husband, and mentioned that she received 
the congratulations of five former and still living husbands! 
Thousands of divorces are granted daily in the combined 
divorce-courts of the world. 

The Philadelphian Church, to which we belong, will be kept 
from this temptation by the celibacy of the clergy and by the 
stringent laws of the Church against divorce. 

Of course this exegesis is provisional and limited to the 
present horizon. Some other temptation may arise in the 
future. It has not shown itself yet, however, although the 
Philadelphian age is passing into that of Laodicea. 

It would be useless to inquire what was the temptation which 
came upon the whole world, which the local Church of Phila- 
delphia in Asia was preserved from. That Church is not in 
the purview of these warnings. 


» ’ὕ ’ὕ a » ν 4 , Ν 
11. Ἔρχομαι ταχύ. κράτει ὃ ἔχεις, ἵνα μηδεὶς λάβῃ τὸν 
στέφανόν σου. 


11. Behold I come quickly ; hold fast that which thou hast, that no man 
take thy crown. 


“‘ Behold I come quickly,”’ addressed to the Angel of the last 
Church but one, has an eschatological significance. Sent to this 
particular Church, it must be taken, like the other predictions 
in these Letters, as a special warning to the Church addressed. 
No previous Angel was given this warning. The Bishop of 
Laodicea, the last Church, is told, “‘ Behold I stand at the 
door and knock” (R. iii. 20). Even we, of the Philadelphian 
age, are warned that the world is nearing its end. ‘“ Hold fast 
that which thou hast ” =“ thou hast a little strength, and hast 
kept my word and hast not denied my name” (R. iii. 8). 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 177 


“Thou hast kept the word of my patience” (R. iii. 10). For 
these things the Church is praised, and rewards are prone 
to it. Hold them fast, “that no man take thy crown’ 
στεφανόν, the reward of victory in the contests of the arena. 
The danger comes from man. Not by way of persecutions, | 
but in some other way, as by modernism, worldliness, wealth, 
indifferentism, etc. The crown we have had before as one of 
the rewards of the persecuted age of Smyrna, ‘“‘the crown of 
life” (R. ii. 10). ‘And when the prince of pastors shall 
appear, you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory” 
(1 Pet. v. 4). 


ε ~ ’ ON ’ 3 “~ Lal ~ A 

Ο νικῶν, ποιήσω αὐτὸν στύλον ἐν τῷ ναῷ TOV Θεοῦ 

fas καὶ ἔξω ov μὴ ἐξέλθῃ ἔτι" καὶ γράψω ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν τὸ 

ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ μου καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τῆς πόλεως τοῦ Θεοῦ μου, 
ε 


τῆς καινῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ, ἡ καταβαίνουσα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ 
ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ μου, καὶ τὸ ὄνομά μου τὸ καινόν. 


x 


12. He that shall overcome, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my 
God, and he shall go out no more ; and I will write upon him the name of 
my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which 
cometh down out of heaven from my God, and my new name. 


The expression, Ὁ νικῶν, “ He that shall overcome,” is used 
in the letters to the Churches of Smyrna, Sardis, Philadelphia 
and Laodicea. Smyrna and Sardis, we have seen, were martyr 
Churches. We shall find that Laodicea also is marked out 
for persecution. ‘‘ To him that overcometh,” τῷ νικῶντι, is 
employed in the letter to the Churches of Ephesus and 
Pergamos. To Thyatira alone it is said, ‘‘ He that shall over- 
come and keep my works to the end,” indicating the manner of 
overcoming, viz., by works. 

This forewarning to the Church of our age puts it upon its 
guard against temptations, and urges it to’ hold fast its 
faith. Our Church is not accused of anything. There is 
no mention of punishment in its message. On the contrary. 
It is the Church of the open door, and this promise of the “ Holy 
One and the True One,” is incompatible with persecution. In 
this case the victor figures as a pillar in the temple of God. 
SS. Peter and John were pillars of the Church (Gal. ii. 9). 
“ And I will write upon him the name of the city of my God, 
the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my 
God,and my newname.”’ This reference to the New Jerusalem 
is repeated,almost word for word at the end of the Book. 

I2 


‘ 


178 { THE REVELATION 


“Καὶ τὴν πολίν τὴν ἁγιάν ᾿Ιερουσαλῆμ καινὴν εἶδον κατα-᾿ 
βαίνουσαν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ" (R. xxi. 2). “ΑΠΑΙ 
saw and behold a Lamb stood on Mount Sion, and with him a 
hundred and forty-four thousand, having his name and the 
name of his Father written in their foreheads” (R. xiv. 1). 
And when the “ New Jerusalem” appears, it is said of the 
inhabitants, “ His servants shall serve him. And they shall see 
his face; and his name shall be on their foreheads” 
(R. xxii. 3-4). The connection between different parts of the 
book of Revelation is evident. 


ε 3, 3 > , , κ᾿ A ΄ a 
13. Ὁ ἔχων οὖς ἀκουσάτω τί τὸ πνεῦμα λέγει ταῖς 
ἐκκλησίαις. 


13. He that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith to the Churches. 


This particular warning is addressed to the Angel of the 
Church of our own day, and through him to us. We are all 
agreed that this Book is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which 
God gave to him to make known to His Servants the things 
which must shortly come to pass (R. i. 1). Here and now the 
Holy Spirit warns us “to hear,” that is to examine care- 
fully the mystery of this message to Philadelphia. See R. ii. 7, 
notes. 


LAODICEA. 


14. Καὶ τῷ ἀγγέλῳ τῆς ἐν Λαοδικίᾳ ἐκκλησίας γράψον. 
Τάδε λέγει ὁ ἀμήν, ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστὸς καὶ ἀληθινός, ἡ ἀρχὴ 
τῆς κτίσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ. 


14. And to the angel of the church of Laodicea write ; These things 
saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, who is the beginning of the 
creation of God. 


Laodicea was situated on the high road, about forty miles 
south-east of Philadelphia. It is now a ruin, and shares with 
Ephesus the peculiar distinction of having been blotted out 
altogether by the hand of time. It is very significant that 
these two great cities, the first and the last of those which gave 
their names as emblems of the ages of the Church, should now 
be buried in the dust of ages. Laodicea stands for the last age 
of the Church. The current Philadelphian age will merge into 
it unnoticed. The warning is addressed to “the Angel” re- 
sponsible for the Church. We know from 8. Paul’s Epistle to 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 179 


the Colossians that there were ἐπίσκοποι at Laodicea, viz., 
Epaphras and Archippus (Col. i. 7, iv. 17). ‘‘Salute the 
brethren who are at Laodicea, and Nymphas and the Church 
that is in his house” (Col. iv. 15). But the revelation of the 
last days was not sent to Laodicea of Asia Minor. 

' The forecast of the Laodicean age is of great eschatological 
value, for it is a prediction of the last stage of the Church 
militant. Before entering on any question of eschatology, 
however, we must first examine the predictions carefully in 
detail. “These things saith the Amen.” “The Amen” 
is taken from a very significant passage in the preface, viz., 
“Behold he cometh, with the clouds and every eye shall see 
him, and they also that pierced him. And all the tribes of 
the earth shall bewail themselves because of him. Even so, 
Amen” (R, i. 7). The Amen is rendered in both Greek and 
Hebrew, to emphasise it. The message comes from Jesus 
Christ “ the faithful and true witness, who is coming to judge the 
world.” ‘O μάρτυς ὁ πιστός comes from R. i. 5. And ‘the 
beginning of the creation of God” seems to correspond well. 
Ὁ ἄρχων τῶν Βασίλέων τῆς γῆς, at R. 1. 5. The Ruler coming 
to judge His Kingdom. ‘The last age of the Church is warned 
of the second coming in the opening lines of its prediction. 


15. Oida σου τὰ ἔργα ὅτι οὔτε ψυχρὸς εἶ οὔτε ζεστός, 
ὄφελον ψυχρὸς ἧς ἢ ζεστός. 


15. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot ; I would thou 
wert cold or hot, 


In these words our Lord refers to the spiritual condition of 
the Church, “I know thy works.” This Church is neither 
cold nor hot. Ζεστός means fervour in aspiritual sense. What 
does ψυχρός, “cold,” mean? In S. Matthew we read, ‘ Be- 
cause iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold” 
--οἀἶψυγήσεταί (xxiv. 12). Can it mean cold in that sense? The 
warning continues, ““I would that thou wert cold or hot.” 
Not hot or cold, but “cold or hot.” Cold is placed first. It 
is impossible to take this warning in the sense that God wishes 
us to be spiritually cold. Holzhauser concludes that hot 
stands for the fervour of charity, and cold for the fear of God, 
the beginning of wisdom. The “ardour of love” and the 
“chill of fear” are literary expressions which have come down 
to us from the classics. Virgil uses cold as the symbol of fear, 
calor ossa reliquit. The fear of God we shall find is repeatedly 
insisted upon in this Book (R. xi. 18, xiv. 7, xv. 4, xix. 5). The 
most prominent characteristic of the Laodicean age will be its 


180, THE REVELATION 


indifference. Absorbed in worldly interests, it will neither 
fear God, nor love Him. 

We understand from the Book that in this current age of 
ours, called Philadelphia, the Church will make enormous 
progress in numbers. Observation shows that we are progress- 
ing that way. Increase in numbers will bring wealth and 
honour, and other desirable worldly advantages to the Church. 
The lesson of all these warnings to the Church is that danger 
lies that way. We know what Eusebius said of the cause of 
persecution of the Church of his time; what historians say of 
the Church of the Middle Ages; what Holzhauser said of the 
Church of his day. History is apt to repeat itself. We have 
put before us the picture of the Church of the last age, 
demoralised by prosperity. 


> , 
16. Οὔτως ὅτι χλιαρὸς εἶ, καὶ οὔτε ζεστὸς οὔτε ψυχρός, 
μέλλω σε ἐμέσαι ἐκ τοῦ στόματός μου. 


16. But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will 
begin to vomit thee out of my mouth. 


Lukewarm water revolts the palate and brings on vomiting. 
This is very strong imagery as applied to the Church. It 
reveals a wide-spread indifferentism. ‘I will begin to vomit 
thee out of my mouth ”’ is a warning rather than a prediction. 
Μέλλω means “to be on the point of doing,” “to be about to 
do.” It does not mean an action begun. No vomiting actually 
takes place. The promises of God to His Church are sacred. 
He walks in the midst of the Churches and holds the Angels of 
the Churches in His right hand. But the simile reveals the 
condition of the Church. We shall see presently that God 
loves the Church and will reclaim it by chastisement 
(R. iii. 19). 


ν ’ὕ 4 , , 4 Ν 4 A 
17. Ὅτι λέγεις ὅτι πλούσιός εἰμι Kal πεπλούτηκα Kal 
> ? 
οὐδὲν ὃς χρείαν ἔχω, καὶ οὐκ οἶδας ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ ταλαίπωρος 
καὶ ἐλεινὸς καὶ πτωχὸς καὶ τυφλὸς καὶ γυμνός. 
17. Because thou sayest Iam rich and made wealthy and have need of 


nothing ; and thou knowest uot that thou art wretched, and miserable, and 
poor, and blind, and naked. 


(S. omits: 6s.) 
The successor and heir of the Philadelphian era of prosperity 
is accused of being puffed up with the pride of wealth. The 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 181 


Ven. Holzhauser predicted that in the sixth or Philadelphian 
age, in which we now live, the world would make great strides 
in the knowledge of the physical sciences, in wealth, and luxury. 
How true that is we all know. 

The victories of science will probably increase with time. 
The future may revel in wonders that we can scarce foresee, » 
and the pleasures of life may be multiplied. Holzhauser fore- 
casted the Church of Laodicea much as follows: 


Its condition will be such that our Lord will begin to “vomit” 
it out of His mouth, will mend it by persecution, and end it with 
the general judgment. It will not know that it is wretched, having 
lost the favour of its founder, Jesus Christ our Saviour. It will not 
know that it is poor in grace and all spiritual gifts and virtues. It 
will not know that it is blind to its own faults and shortcomings, and 
blind to the inevitable consequences. It will not know that it is 
naked, that its sins are known, exposed, and a public scandal” (of. 
ctt., I. 204). 


18, Συμβουλεύω σοι ἀγοράσαι παῤ ἐμοῦ χρυσίον πεπυρ- 
@pevov ἐκ πυρὸς ἵνα πλουτήσῃς, καὶ ἱμάτια λευκὰ ἵνα 
περιβάλῃ καὶ μὴ φανερωθῇ ἡ ἡ αἰσχύνη τῆς γυμνότητός σου, 
καὶ κολλούριον ἐγχρῖσαι τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς σου ἵνα βλέπῃς. 


18. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest 
be made rich ; and mayest be clothed in white garments, that the shame 
of thy nakedness may not appear ; and anoint thy eyes with eye-salve that 
thou mayest see. 


Gold tried in the fire is gold purified of dross. ᾿Αγοράσαι 
does not necessarily mean to buy with cash. Isaias says, “ All 
you that thirst come to the waters: and you that have no 
money, make haste, buy and eat: come ye, buy wine and 
milk without money and without any price” (lv. 1). Spiritual 
riches are contrasted with worldly wealth. 

The counsel is to purge off the dross from the corrupt gold 
by fire, and acquire spiritual grace in exchange. Fire is put in 
this Book as a symbol of chastisement. See R. vill. 5, xiv. 18, 
XX. 9, notes. 

Compare this last age with the second or martyrs’ age. 
Smyrna is told, “I know thy tribulations and thy poverty, 
but thou art rich” (R. ii. 9), rich in the graces flowing from 
sufferings and persecutions. These are the riches which 
Laodicea has not, and is counselled to buy. 

**Clothed in white garments” does not exclude martyrdom, 
see R. iv. 4, where the four-and-twenty ancients, some of whom, 
like SS. Peter and Paul, were martyrs, appear in heaven clothed 


182 THE REVELATION 


in white garments. But, as στολή, the special robe of the | 
martyrs, is not mentioned, we may conclude that the Church 
of Laodicea will be like that of Sardis, where the same expres- 
sion clothed in white garments is used (R. iii. 5, where see 
notes). Laodicea will be reformed by suffering. 

“That the shame of thy nakedness may not appear,” refers 
to spiritual nakedness, wanting a spiritual garment. It is 
reminiscent of the nakedness of Adam after the fall (Gen. iii. 
10, 11). It is worthy of note that the sin of lust is not charged 
against either the Philadelphian or the Laodicean ages, in spite 
of their prosperity. 

“ Anoint thine eyes with eye-salve that thou mayest see,” is 
a warning to the Church to cure itself of spiritual blindness 
that it may see itself as God sees it. 


19. Ἐγὼ ὅσους ἐὰν φιλῶ ἐλέγχω καὶ παιδεύω' ζήλευε 
οὖν καὶ μετανόησον. 


19. Those whom I love I rebuke and chastise. Be zealous therefore 
and do penance. 


The verb μετανοέω, “to repent,” occurs in every one of these 
letters, whereby Revelation confirms our trust in the value of 
repentance. 

God loves His Church and will not come upon it in the last 
days without purifying it. Φιλῷ denotes a personal love, as 
Ἴδε πῶς ἐφίλει αὐτόν, “ Behold how he loved him” (Jhn. xi. 36). 
This is a prediction. As surely as God loves His Church, so 
surely will He rebuke and chastise it in the last age. ’EXéyyo 
means to put to shame, to disgrace. 1Παιδεύω means primarily 
to teach, to educate, and secondarily to correct or chastise. It 
means paternal correction, and gives a strong hint of persecu- 
tion, without necessarily meaning bloody persecution. That, 
however, is the ordinary form of chastisement, noticeable in 
the history of the Church. But there are other chastisements, 
the Black Death of Thyatira for example. In the subsequent 
Revelation of the history of the Church and the world, the 
events of the last days are summed up in Chapter xx. Satan 
shall seduce the nations ‘‘ whose number is as the sands of the 
sea.” “And they ascend upon the breadth of the earth and sur- 
round the camp of the saints and the beloved city” (R. xx. 7, 8), 
where “the beloved city” is put for the Civitas Dei of 
S. Augustine the Church. It means a general upheaval against 
the Church in the last days. ‘ Be zealous therefore and do 
penance,” read in connection with the whole context, means 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 183 


kindle the fire of Divine love, and bear chastisement patiently. 
*“* My son, reject not the correction of the Lord, and do not 
faint when thou art chastised by him. For whom the Lord 
loveth, he chastiseth”’ (Prov. iii. 11, 12). 

The spread of indifferentism and materialism in our own 
day, and the revolt of Portugal against the Church, are warnings 
of the Laodicean age. 


3 ΒΟ ee 2 \ Ν ΄ \ 7 Re ἘΠ 
20. Ἰδοὺ ἕστηκα ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν καὶ Kpotw' ἐάν τις 
ἀκούσῃ τῆς φονῆς μου καὶ ἀνοίξῃ τὴν θύραν, εἰσελεύσομαι 
πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ δειπνήσω μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ αὐτὸς per ἐμοῦ. 


20. Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man shall hear my 
voice and open to me the door, I will come into him and sup with him, 
and he with me. 


“ Behold I stand at the door and knock” refers to the second 
coming of Christ on “the” last day. It is a special warning 
to the Laodicean age of the Church. The warning to our age 
is “ Behold I come quickly.” S. James says, “ For the coming 
of the Lord is at hand ... Behold the judge standeth before 
the door” (Jas. v. ὃ, 9). In S. Matthew’s gospel we read, 
** When you shall see all these things, know ye that it is nigh 
even at the doors” (xxiv. 33). In which texts the door is the 
sign of the imminence of the judgment. Dr. Swete admits 
this exegesis, “‘ But as they stand in this context the words are 
eschatological ”’ (op. cit. p. 63). 

Even at the eleventh hour, if any man (ἐάν τις) shall hear the 
interior voice and open the door of his heart to God, He will 
come to him and sup with him. This is a promise to individuals 
in the distracted and possibly persecuted and disorganised 
Church of the last days. It connects with the triumph of the 
Church as the “Bride of the Lamb,” depicted in R. xxi. 9. 
“4 Blessed are they who are called to the marriage supper of the 
Lamb” (R. xix.g). See also the Bride adorned for her husband 
in the vision of heaven (R. xxii. 2). 


ε Lal 4 5 ~ ’ὔ ’ a 9 “a > “ / 
21. Ὁ νικῶν δώσω αὐτῷ κάἀθίσαι per ἐμοῦ ἐν τῷ θρόνῳ 
, lal 
μου, ὡς κἀγὼ ἐνίκησα καὶ ἐκάθισα μετὰ τοῦ πατρός μου ἐν 
τῷ θρόνῳ αὐτοῦ. 


21. To him that shall overcome I will grant to sit with me in my throne, 
as I also have overcome, and have sat with my Father in his throne. 


The key to this passage seems to lie in the words, ‘‘as I also 
have overcome.” Nixdw, to conquer, or overcome, we have 


184 THE REVELATION 


seen, generally refers to martyrdom in this Book. *Evixnoa,the - 
historical aorist “I have overcome” refers back to our Lord’s 
death on the cross. “Τὸ him that shall overcome” in that 
sense is, to him who dies for the faith, or at least who suffers 
violence for the faith. Apparently a period of persecution is 
indicated, see Tw νικῶντι, R. ii. 7, 111. 5, notes. 

The promised reward is ‘to sit with me in my throne as 
I... have sat with my Father in his throne.” In describing 
the New Jerusalem, the reward of the just, at the end of 
Revelation, we are told “the throne of God and of the Lamb 
shall be in it” (ΕΚ. xxii. 3). The throne of God and of His saints, 
(Ὁ νικῶν), comes into view in the next Chapter. 


22. Ὁ ἔχων οὖς ἀκουσάτω τί τὸ Πνεῦμα λέγει ταῖς 
ἐκκλησίαις. 


22. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the 
Churches. 


The name of Laodicea has passed into bye-word. It is 
extremely interesting to note, therefore, that the local Church 
of Laodicea, in Asia Minor, so far from being the worst of the 
local Churches, was one of the best, if not the best of the 
seven. Here we are on historic ground. Something is known 
of the Church of Laodicea. 

S. Paul in his Epistle to the Colossians, iv. 15, 16, puts 
that Church and the Church of Laodicea on a par, as regards 
religious zeal, in the year.62, The two Churches were only 
eleven miles apart. He was well pleased with the Colossians. 
Apparently he was equally pleased with the Laodiceans. So 
far from censuring the latter Church, he encourages inter- 
course with it, and says that Epaphras had much labour for 
Laodicea. 

In later years Laodicea rose to a high position amongst the 
Churches of Asia Minor. In Hastings’s “Dictionary of the 
Bible” we read of Laodicea that “it was the leading bishopric 
of Phrygia throughout the Christian period.” 

Melito, Bishop of Sardis about A.D. 170, relates that when 
Servius Paulus was proconsul of Asia, Sagaris suffered martyr- 
dom. Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, calls him “ Sagaris, bishop 
and martyr, who rests at Laodicea” (Euseb. iv. 26, and v. 24). 
The Church of Laodicea is frequently mentioned by Eusebius, 
Bishop of Czsarea A.D. 310, in his “ Ecclesiastical History.” 
Thelymidus was Bishop of Laodicea, A.D. 251-254, and Eusebius 
254-260. Hesays that the Church of Laodicea was governed by 


LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 185 


(another) Eusebius, an Alexandrian. ‘“ He was also an amiable 
instance of religion among our contemporaries, as may be 
readily seen in those extracts from Dionysius, which we have 
inserted above... .” “Anatolius was appointed his successor, a 
good man, as they say, in the place of the good” (H. E. vii. 32). 

Heliodorus of Laodicea is also mentioned as one of “ the 
more distinguished Bishops of the third century ” (H. E. vii. 5). 

Laodicea was represented at the Council of Nicea by its 
bishop, Nounechios, A.D. 325. Later in the fourth century, 
A.D. 360, a council was held at Laodicea, showing it to have 
been, at that time, the leading Church of the province. The 
canons of this council, or synod, are still quoted by theologians 
with great respect. 

The city of Eumenia, one of the Laodicean group, was so 
thoroughly Christian at the beginning of the fourth century 
that the great body of the people and magistrates alike took 
refuge in the Church in Diocletian’s persecution, and were burnt 
alive. Apameia, another city of the Laodicean circuit, according 
to Ramsay, had a like fate. 

All the warnings addressed to the Angels of the Churches, 
in each age, conclude with an exhortation to hear what the 
Spirit saith to the Churches, ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις---Ὀ] ταὶ. Showing 
that the Spirit warns not the Bishop of a single Church, but 
of the Catholic or Universal Church. 

Reviewing these Letters we may note (1) that the Churches 
they are nominally addressed to do not correspond with them ; 
(2) that the first six Letters correspond accurately with the 
six ages οἱ the Catholic Church, whose history we know; 
_ (3) that the dead Churches of Asia cannot be those in whose 
midst our Lord keeps guard, and whose Bishops He holds in 
His right hand. It follows that these Letters, in the ipsissima 
verba of God, were symbolically addressed by Him to the Chief 
Bishops of His Universal Church, through His chosen Prophet 
of the New Law—S. John. Hence, “ Behold I come quickly” 
is written on the wall as “a sign”’ to us. 

It is not for us to venture an opinion as to whether the 
Laodicean age has begun, or not. One age glides insensibly into 
the next, and though they are distinct enough, viewed in perspec- 
tive, they are not generally recognised by those living on the stage 
of life. It is not given to man to know when the last age will 
end. “ But of that day and hour no one knoweth, no not the 
angels of heaven, but the Father alone”’ (Matt. xxiv. 36). See 
1 Thess. v. 1-3, t Cor. xv. 52. The prophet Daniel foretold of 
the last days, ‘‘ Many shall pass over and knowledge shall be 
manifold.” ‘Many shall be chosen, and made white, and 
shall be tried by fire: and the wicked shall deal wickedly : and 


186 THE REVELATION | 


none of the wicked shall understand, but the learned shall 
understand ” (xii. I, 4, 10). 

S. Paul says, ‘Now the Spirit manifestly saith that in the 
last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to 
spirits of error and doctrines of devils” (1 Tim. iv. 1). S. Peter 
says, “In the last days there shall come deceitful scoffers, 
walking after their own lusts, saying: Where is his promise, 
or his coming? for since the time that the fathers slept, all 
things continue as they were from the beginning of the 
creation” (2 Pet. 111. 3, 4). Again, our Lord said, “ And as it 
came to pass in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days 
of the Son of man. They did eat and drink, they married 
wives, and were given in marriage... .” ‘* Likewise as it 
came to pass in the days of Lot: They did eat and drink, they 
bought and sold, they planted and built. And in the day 
that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone 
from heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it 
be in the day when the Son of man shall be revealed” 
(Luke xvii. 26-30). 

S. John says, “ Little children, it is the last hour: and as 
you have heard that Antichrist cometh, even now there are 
become many Antichtists: whereby we know that it is the last 
hour” (x Jhn. ii. 18). He explains further what he means by 
Antichrist. ‘‘ And every spirit that dissolveth Jesus is not of 
God, and this is Antichrist, of whom you have heard that he 
cometh” (x Jhn. iv. 3). One of the surest signs of the seventh 
and last-age of the Church will be a wide-spread denial of the 
Divinity of Jesus Christ, and that, too, apparently, by persons 
calling themselves Christians. Even now there are ominous 
signs that the work of “ dissolving Jesus” has begun. 

It is a remarkable fact that the present Angel of the 
Churches, Pope Pius X., has taken for his motto, “ Restore all 
things to Christ.” 


PART III 


THE JEWISH THEME 


CHAPTER IV , 

1. Mera ταῦτα εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ θύρα ἠνεῳγμένη ἐν TO 
οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἡ φωνὴ ἡ πρώτη ἣν ἤκουσα ὡς σάλπιγγος 
λαλούσης μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ, λέγων ᾿Ανάβα ὧδε, καὶ δείξω σοι ἃ δεῖ 
γενέσθαι μετὰ ταῦτα. 


1. After these things I saw and behold, a door open in heaven ; and the 
first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet, speaking with me, 
saying : Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must be 
done hereafter. 


** After these things,” that is, after writing the warnings to 
the Seven Churches, S. John saw a door opened in heaven. 
How long after he does not say. But μετὰ ταῦτα signifies an 
interval of time, and marks a new departure in the Book, as at 
R. vii. 1, xv. 5, and xviii. 1. The imagery of the opening in 
heaven is Hebraic. So Ezechiel begins his vision of the 
throne of God, “The heavens were opened and I saw the 
visions of God” (Ezech.i. 1). A “door” is opened in heaven 
for S. John because it is said to him “ Come up hither.” He 
heard the first voice, ‘‘as of a trumpet,” the same trumpet 
voice which told him, “ What thou seest write in a book and 
send to the seven Churches” (R. i. 10, 11). The voice adds, 
“1 will show thee the things which must be done.” “ After 
these things,” μετὰ ταῦτα, again. S. John was commissioned 
to write these things in a Book, at R. i. 11. Must be done 
predicts certainties. ‘‘ Was” in the English version obscures 
the connection between this passage and R. i. 10. It is not 
in the Greek, nor in the Vulgate, which runs, Vox prima quam 
audivt, tanquam tube loquentis mecum. This connection shows 
that Parts III. and IV. of the Book were, equally with the 
Letters, intended for the Seven Churches of Asia. ‘* Here- 
after’ has a wide range. It is limited only in point of time by 
the Revelation visions, which estene to the day of Judgment. 

107 


188 THE REVELATION 


Ν 3 id > ’ > 4 ΝΩ͂Ν ἣν ’ : 
2. Καὶ εὐθέως ἐγενόμην ἐν πνεύματι: καὶ ἰδοὺ θρόνος 
ἔκειτο EV τῷ οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸυ θρόνου καθήμενος. 


2. And immediately I was in the spirit, and behold there was a throne 
set in heaven, and upon the throne one sitting. 


(S. omits the first Kal, and writes τὸν θρόνον.) 

“And immediately I was in the Spirit’? marks a second 
rapture. Apparently the warnings to the Seven Churches were 
written in manuscript in the interval between the trances. To 
be wrapt in a trance in the Spirit precludes the idea of sitting 
down with pen, ink, and paper. In the second ecstasy the 
Seer was called up to heaven. He received a fresh inspiration, 
and relates the vision of God and of His throne. This mag- 
nificent vision is the prelude to the prophecies relating to the 
Church and the world, contained in the rest of the Book. The 
Seer now begins to employ symbolic language of his own, 
derived in part from Ezechiel. ‘‘ The likeness of the throne 
was a likeness as of the appearance of a man above upon 
it’? (Ezech. i. 26). The heavens and the throne are connected 
by Isaias, ‘‘ Thus saith the Lord, Heaven is my throne” (Ixvi. 1). 
See also Matt., ‘“‘ Neither by heaven, for it is the throne of 
God” (v. 34). ‘One sitting” the omnipotent God (ὁ Θεὸς ὁ 
παντοκράτωρ = R. iv. 8), whose ineffable name we know not. 


3. Kat ὁ καθήμενος ὅμοιος ὁράσει λίθῳ ἰάσπιδι καὶ 
σαρδίῳ, καὶ ἴρις κυκλόθεν τοῦ θρόνου ὅμοιος ὁράσει 
σμαραγδίνῳ. 


3. And he that sat was to the sight like the jasper and the sardine stone ; 
and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an 
emerald. 


This revelation of the Godhead by S. John to his fellow 
servants in the first century is naturally couched in Hebraic 
symbolism. The jasper, the sardine stone and the emerald 
were worn in the breastplate of the high priest of the Temple 
(Exod. xxviii. 17, 20). They may have had some special Hebrew 
significance. In the vision of heaven at the end of the Book 
we have its light as of jasper stone, Its first foundation jasper, 
the fourth an emerald, the sixth a sardius (R. xxi. 11, Ig, 20). 

The jasper of the Apocalypse is not the opaque crystalline 
silica called jasper now. It seems to have been a translucent 
rock crystal. Semper translucens Pliny calls it (H. N. xxxvii, 
115). The σάρδιον, or “ sardine stone,” according to Dr. Swete, 


THE JEWISH THEME 189 


was red in colour and derived its name from Sardis, where it 
was found (of. cit. p. 68). The conception is of a transparent 
crystal form suffused with a warm glow of light. See “the 
Glory of God,” R. xxi. 11. 

'An emerald coloured rainbow was round about the throne. 
In Genesis the rainbow is put for a covenant between God and 
man (Gen. ix. 13). A green rainbow, emblem of peace, would 
rest the eyes, and form an appropriate background to the 
vision. 

Ezechiel saw “the appearance of fire within it round about.” 
“ As the appearance of the rainbow” (i. 27, 28). 


4. Kat κυκλόθεν τοῦ θρόνου θρόνοι εἴκοσι τέσσαρες, 
καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς θρόνους εἴκοσι τέσσαρας πρεσβυτέρους καθη- 
μένους περιβεβλημένους ἐν ἱματίοις λευκοῖς, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς 
κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν στεφάνους χρυσοῦς. 


4. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats ; and upon 
the seats four-and-twenty ancients sitting, clothed in white garments, and 
golden crowns on their heads. 


(S. omits ἐν.) 

In our Bibles θρόνους is translated “seats,” whereas θρόνους in 
this context is coupled with the throne of God, and is rendered 
super thronos in the Vulgate. The vision of the Ancients seated 
upon thrones comes after the promise, “ to him that shall over- 
come” at ΚΕ. iii. 21, and indicates its fulfilment. The four and 
twenty ‘ancients ’’—mpeoSurépo.—are the twelve Patriarchs 
of the Old Law and the twelve Apostles of the New, as we 
gather from R. xviii. 20 and xix. 4. In the vision of heaven 
(called the New Jerusalem), near the end of the Book, we see 
them forming its walls and foundations (R. xxi. 12, 14). Our 
Lord said to his Apostles, ‘‘ When the son of man shall sit upon 
the seat of his majesty, you also shall sit upon twelve seats, 
judging the twelve tribes of Israel”’ (Matt. xix. 28). Here again 
θρόνους is translated “seats.’”’ θρόνος, as a Greek word, may 
mean a judgment seat. We see in this vision the promise of 
Scripture confirmed. The four and twenty Ancients remain in 
judgment throughout this Revelation of the Church and the 
world, and occasionally intervene, as at R. vii. 13, xi. 16, 
and xix. 4. They are “clothed in white garments ’— 
περιβεβλημένους ἐν ἑματίοις AevKois—the promised reward of 
“ He that shall overcome,” in the fifth age of the Church, the 
Reformation period (R. iii. 5). Περιβέβλημαι means “to 
throw round oneself,” and indicates the white long cloth 
garment commonly worn in the East even to the present day. 


190 THE REVELATION 


A single length of cotton or linen cloth is thrown and draped 
over the body and finished off, asa girdle, at the waist. ἱμάτιον 
means an outer garment, or “ἃ cloth.” It seems to have been 
used in Jerusalem in the time of our Lord. S. Mark mentions 
a certain young man who followed our Lord, “ having a linen 
cloth cast about (περιβεβλημένος) his naked body” (xiv. 51). 
This cloth, a σινδών, was of fine quality, probably Indian muslin. 
Some of ‘‘the Ancients” were martyrs, others were not. 
It is evident therefore that “white garments” does not 
necessarily connote martyrdom, like a white robe, “ στολὴ NevKn”’ 
(R. vi. II, vil. 9). 

The Ancients have golden crowns on their heads—otepdvor— 
the crowns of victory promised to the martyrs of the second age 
of the Church, “ the crown of life,” R. ii. το. In their thrones, 
their garments, and their crowns, they exhibit three of the 
rewards promised to the saints of *‘ the Churches” (R. ili. 21, 5, 
il. 10). 

It has been objected that S. John, one of the twelve, was still 
alive when he saw the visions of the twelve Patriarchs and the 
twelve Apostles. 

But the Book professes to be a revelation of the future. 


a 4, Ἀ Ἀ 
5. Καὶ ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου ἐκπορεύονται ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ 
Ἂς Ν ’ὔ 4 
καὶ Bpovrai, καὶ ἑπτὰ λαμπάδες πυρὸς καιόμεναι ἐνώπιον 
» ’ὕ ν 5 Ν ε A nw al 
τοῦ θρόνου, a εἰσιν τὰ ἑπτὰ πνεύματα τοῦ Θεοῦ. 


5. And from the throne proceeded lightnings and voices and thunders ; 
and there were seven lamps burning before the throne, which are the 
seven Spirits of God. 


The vision of the throne of God is accompanied by awe 
inspiring lightnings and voices and thunders, which indicate 
majesty. When God came down upon Mount Sinai and gave 
Moses the ten commandments of the Law, “all the people saw 
the voices and the flames and the sound of the trumpet” 
(Exod. xx. 18). When the temple of God was opened in heaven 
in the visions of this Book, “there were lightnings and voices 
and thunders” (R. xi. 19). So also when the Jewish catastrophe 
began (R. viii. 5), and at the fall of Rome (R. xvi. 18). 

The seven lamps burning before the throne are λαμπάδες 
πυρὸς, “ fiery torches,” not stationary Avyvede (called candle- 
sticks), which symbolised the Seven Churches. These torches 
connote movement. ‘ Their looks are like torches, like light- 
ning running to and fro” (Nahum ii. 4). The Holy Spirit 
descended on the Apostles in tongues of fire (Acts ii. 3). They 
are the Seven Spirits of God which are before the Throne. At 


THE JEWISH THEME fh, ak 


R, i. 4 the same language is employed to describe them, “ ἑπτὰ 
πνευμάτων ἅ ἑνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ. They send grace and 
peace to the Seven Churches together with the Father and the 
Son. They stand for the Holy Spirit, the torch which lights 
the Church. The picture of the throne of God would be in- 
complete without a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Lamb of 
God is presently revealed in the throne. 


lal / 
6. Καὶ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου ὡς θάλασσα ὑαλίνη ὁμοία 
nw ῪΝ ’ὔ 
κρυστάλλῳ, καὶ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ θρόνου καὶ κύκλῳ τοῦ θρόνου 
τέσσερα ζῴα γέμοντα ὀφθαλμῶν ἔμπροσθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν. 


6. And before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal : 
and in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four living 
creatures, full of eyes before and behind. 


When Moses and Aaron “went up” and saw “the God of 
Israel” there was, “under his feet as it were a work of sapphire 
stone ” (Exod. xxiv. 10). The vision of the ancients, seated upon 
thrones, requires a supporting floor. They “fell down before 
him that sitteth on the throne ...and cast their crowns before 
his throne” (R. iv. 10). The floor is crystal, like a sea of glass, 
the sea representing its wide extent. Ezechiel refers to the 
firmament “as the appearance of a crystal terrible to behold ”’ 
(Ezech. 1. 22). 

The four living creatures are found in Ezechiel (Chapter i.), 
where there is a long description of them. Ezechiel says, 
“T understood that they were Cherubims” (x. 20). The 
Cherubims are described in the O.T. as having wings 
(Exod. xxxvii. 8, 9, 3 Kings vi. 24). Isaias describes “the God 
of Israel” as seated upon the Cherubims (xxxvii. 16). In 
Psalms Ixxix. I and xcviii. 1, the same expression is used. 
When Adam and Eve were turned out of the garden of 
Eden, Cherubims were placed on guard over the “ tree of life.” 
They are represented, also in Ezechiel, as being watchful, “ full 
of eyes, round about ” (i. 18). 


iF Καὶ τὸ ζῷον τὸ πρώτον ὅμοιον λέοντι, καὶ τὸ δεύτερον 
2 f pa 
ζῴον ὅμοιον μόσχῳ, καὶ τὸ τρίτον ζῷον ἔχων τὸ πρόσωπον 
ὡς ἀνθρώπου, καὶ τὸ τέταρτον ζῴον ὄμοιον ἀετῷ πετομένῳ. 
ἡ. And the first living creature was like a lion, and the second living 


creature was like a calf, and the third living creature having the face, as it 
were, of a man, and the fourth living creature was like an eagle flying. 


In Ezechiel we find “ And as for the likeness of their faces, 
there was the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right 


192 ; THE REVELATION 


side of all the four, and the face of an ox on the left side of all 
the four, and the face of an eagle over all the four” (i. ro). 

From the second century of the Christian era, the four living 
creatures have been adopted as symbols of the four Evangelists. 
The lion for S. Mark, because his gospel begins with the 
preaching of S. John the Baptist, which was as the roaring of a 
lion, *‘A voice of one crying in the desert” (Mark 1. 3). 
The calf, the emblem of the priesthood for S. Luke, because his 
gospel begins with the priesthood. The man for S. Matthew, 
because his gospel begins with the manhood of Christ. And 
for S. John the eagle, because he soars aloft. “In the beginning 
was the Word and the Word was with God” (Jhn. i. 1). 

Prof. M. Stuart points out that μόσχῳ means a young 
bullock, not a calf (op. cit., Vol. 2, 114). It is remarkable that 
the fourth living creature, the emblem of S. John, is represented 
as alive and flying, werouévw. The seer knew that in the 
coming time the eagle would be his emblem. See R. viii. 13 
and xiv. 16, notes. 


8. Καὶ τὰ τέσσερα Coa, ἕν καθ᾽ ἕν αὐτῶν ἔχων ava 

,ὕ ἃ / Ν » ᾽’ὕ 5 lal 
πτέρυγας ἕξ, κυκλόθεν καὶ ἔσωθεν γέμουσιν ὀφθαλμῶν. 
καὶ ἀνάπαυσιν οὐκ ἔχουσιν ἑμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς λέγοντες" 
Ἅγιος ἅγιος ἅγιος Κύριος 6 Θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ὁ ἣν καὶ 
ὁ ὧν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος. 


8. And the four living creatures had each of them six wings, and round 
about and within they are full of eyes. And they rested not day and 
night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who 
is, and who is to come. 


Compare with the vision of Isaias, ‘I saw the Lord sitting 
upon a throne high and elevated and his train filled the temple. 
Upon it stood the Seraphims; the one had six wings and the 
other had six wings, with two they covered his face and with 
two they covered his feet and with two they flew. And they 
cried to one another and said: Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord 
God of Hosts ; all the earth is full of His Glory”’ (Isa. vi. 1-3). 

The reader will understand that in describing things which 
are incomprehensible, S. John uses the symbolism already 
provided in the O.T. It is a part of his system, and it is not 
derogatory to him. Commentators are agreed that whatever 
he touches he improves. Isaias, Ezechiel and S. John 
describe the Cherubim in similar language, but the finished 
picture is not the same in each case, which shows a certain 
amount of independent imagination. Needless to say pure 


* 


THE JEWISH THEME 193 


spirits have neither heads, nor eyes, nor wings, yet the desired 
impression remains, that there are close to the throne of God 
beings of marvellous sight, knowledge, and swiftness, who serve 
and glorify Him ceaselessly. 


Ἁ id “a Ὃς ‘ 

9. Kai ὅταν δώσουσιν τὰ (oa δόξαν καὶ τιμὴν καὶ 

εὐχαριστίαν τῷ καθημένῳ ἐπὶ τῷ θρόνῳ τῴ ζῶντι εἰς τοὺς 
αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. 


9. And when these living creatures gave glory and honour and bene- 
diction to him that sitteth on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever. 


10. Πεσοῦνται οἱ εἴκοσι τέσσαρες πρεσβύτεροι ἐνώπιον 
τοῦ καθημένου ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου, καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν τῷ 
ζῶντι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν, αἰώνων, καὶ, βαλοῦσιν τοὺς 
στεφάνους αὐτῶν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου, λέγοντες. 


το. The four-and-twenty ancients fell down before him that sitteth on 
the throne, and adored him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their 
crowns before the throne, saying. 


i Ν 
11. ΓΑξιος εἶ, ὁ κύριος καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, λαβεῖν τὴν 
δόξαν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν" ὅτι σὺ ἔκτισας τὰ 
πάντα, καὶ διὰ τὸ θέλημά σου ἦσαν καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν. 


11. Thou art worthy O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and 
power, because thou hast created all things, and for thy will they were 
and have been created. 


‘*‘He that sat” on the throne (R. iv. 3), is developed at iv. 8 
into the Lord God “ Almighty ” (παντοκράτωρ), and at iv. 9, 
** Who liveth for ever and ever.” At R. x. 6a further develop- 
ment occurs—“ who created heaven and the things which are 
therein, and the earth and the things which are therein, and 
the sea and the things which are therein.” 

When the living creatures gave glory and honour and bene- 
diction (εὐχαριστίαν) to God, the ancients fell down before him 
and proclaimed him worthy to receive glory and honour and 
power. The ancients replace εὐχαριστίαν by δύναμιν, ‘ power.” 
Evyapiotia, as a dictionary word, means “thankfulness,” 
““ sratitude.” It is not found in the O.T. It occurs again at 
R. vii. 12, where it is translated ‘‘ thanksgiving.” Two different 
renderings. At R. vii. 12 we have a sevenfold doxology to God, 

13 


194 , THE REVELATION 


in which both εὐχαριστία and δύναμις appear. But in the. 
similar sevenfold doxology of the Lamb, at R. v. 12, δύναμιν 
has the first place, and there is no εὐχαριστία. 

We may suppose that the crowns of the ancients—“‘orepdvov”’ 
—were crowns of laurel, oak, or bay leaf, wrought in gold. 

** Because thou hast created all things” connects with “ Who 
liveth for ever and ever” above, and at R. x. 6. 

The ancients acknowledge that they have received their 
crowns from God. 


CHAPTER V 


1. Kat εἶδον ἐπὶ τὴν δεξιὰν τοῦ καθημένου ἐπὶ rou θρόνου 
βιβλίον γεγραμμένον ἔσωθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν, κατεσφραγισ- 
μένον σφραγῖσιν ἐπτά. 


1. And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book 
written within and without, sealed with seven seals. 


The vision of the throne of God is continued and the sealed 
book is introduced. It is the source of the visions in the Jew- 
ish theme, towhich these Chapters iv.and v. are an introduction. 
It is held in the right hand of God, showing its importance: * 
and it is sealed with seven seals, because it consisted of seven 
separate revelations. The seals were not made of sealing wax 
nor placed on the outside of the manuscript. βιβλίον denotes 
a papyrus manuscript. Our Lord is represented as ‘ unrolling 
the book,” ἀναπτύξας τὸ βιβλίον (Luke iv. 17). There were 
seven manuscripts; the seventh was rolled up and carefully tied 
with string, the ends of which were secured in a clay seal, 
which hung down. The sixth was rolled round the seventh 
and tied up and sealed in like manner, the seal again visibly 
hanging down. The fifth was rolled round the sixth, the fourth 
round the fifth, and so on, till the first which had its own 
fastenings and seal. Layard found at Nineveh clay seals, with 
holes in them for string for sealing papyri (‘‘ Ninev. and 
Bab.” xiii. 71). Wilkinson found similar seals in Egypt 
(‘Egypt of the Pharaohs”). It was the ancient way of fastening 
and sealing papyri. There was no difficulty in opening the seals, 
but it was not permissible to do so without authority. Isaias 
says, “ And the vision of all shall be unto you as the words of a 
book that is sealed, which when they shall deliver to one that 
is learned, they shall say, Read this; and he shall answer, I 
cannot, for it is sealed’’ (xxix. 11). The sealed book would 


THE JEWISH THEME 195 


bring to the minds of the Hebrew servants of God the book of 
Daniel, relating to the destruction of the Temple and the 
scattering of the band of the holy people, “‘ shut up and sealed 
till the appointed time” (Dan. xii. 9). The appointed time had 
arrived in the year 67. The completion of the prophecy of 
Daniel is contained in the seven-sealed book held in the right 
hand of God. The significance of seven is completeness. 

The book was “ written within and without.” The outside 
writing referred to the known events of the present and of the 
past. The writing within contained the hidden secrets of the 
future, which God alone knew. The vision of Ezechiel came 
to him in like manner in a book, “‘ written within and with- 
out, and there were written in it lamentations and canticles 
and woe” (ii. 9). Ezechiel’s prophecy, like that of S. John, 
related to the siege of Jerusalem. 


A > 3 > ἈΝ , > ~ 

2. Kat εἶδον ἄγγελον ἰσχυρὸν κηρύσσοντα ἐν φωνῇ 

μεγάλῃ, Τίς ἄξιος ἀνοῖξαι τὸ βιβλίον καὶ λῦσαι τὰς σφρα- 
γῖδας αὐτοῦ. 


2. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is 
worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof ? 


"Ayyerov ἰσχυρὸν is translated here “ἃ strong angel,” and at 
R. x. I and xvili. 21, where the same words recur, “a mighty 
angel.” Judging from the action of this angel, “ἐσχυρὸν " 
means “ greatness” rather than physical strength. The “loud 
voice”’ is particularised (as we shall see in the next verse), 
because it has to carry to the ends of the earth, and even to the 
lower regions. “ Who is worthy?” It is purely a question of 
worthiness. There is no force required to open the book. The 
seals are not to be broken. They are to be loosed; λῦσαι 
comes from Ava, “ to loose,” ‘‘ to unfasten,” * to untie.”’ 


Ἀ 3 \ 29.7 3 lal 3 lal QA ας ἢ A A 

3. Kal οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς 
2Q\ ε ’ A A 3 A Ν , ὑδὲ Ζ σιν 
οὐδὲ ὑποκάτο τῆς γῆς ἀνοῖξαι τὸ βιβλίον οὐδὲ βλέπειν αὐτό. 


3. And no man was able, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the 
earth, to open the book, nor to look on it. 


*‘Heaven and earth and under the earth”? meant to the 
Hebrews, the whole world, the under-world, or “ Hades”’ in- 


196 THE REVELATION 


cluded. No angel, or man, could open the book, because none. 
were worthy (ἄξιος) to reveal the secrets of God. ’AvotEav 
means to open, to undo. 


4. Καὶ ἐγὼ ἔκλαιον πολύ, ὅτι ovders ἄξιος εὑρέθη ἀνοῖξαι 
Ν 4 » 4 > , 
τὸ βιβλίον οὔτε βλέπειν αὐτό. 


4. And I wept much because no man was found worthy to open the 
book, nor to see it. 


(S. omits ἐγώ.) 

The Seer ‘‘ wept much because no one was found worthy to 
open the Book, nor to see it.” He recognised the sealed Book 
of Daniel containing the revelation of the fall of the Temple 
and the fate of the Jews. He wept for disappointment, because 
he longed to warn the Nazarene Church, then under the harrow 
of Rome, of the approaching catastrophe. This confession is 
made to the servants of God at Jerusalem. 


Ν e > “A , id Ν ~ 
5. Kal εἷς ἐκ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων λέγει μοι. Μὴ κλαῖε: 
> Ἂς 2 ε 4 ε 5 a lal > , ε cy , 
ἰδοὺ ἐνίκησεν 6 λέων ὁ ἐκ THs φυλῆς Ἰούδα, ἡ ῥίζα Δαυείδ, 
3 “ Ν ΄ Ν Ν ε Ν A > la) 
ἀνοῖξαι τὸ βιβλίον καὶ τὰς ἑπτὰ σφραγῖδας αὐτοῦ. 


5. And one of the ancients said to me, Weep not ; behold the Lion of the 
tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath conquered to open the book, and to 
loose the seven seals thereof. 


Our Lord was of the tribe of Juda (Heb. vii. 14). In Genesis 
we read, “ Juda is a lion’s whelp” (xlix. 9). The sceptre 
remained with Juda till the end of the Covenant. ‘E pita 
Δαυείδ, according to Prof. M. Stuart is a root-shoot from the 
stem of David. Compare Isa. xi. 1. In this Book our Lord 
declares himself “ἐπα root and stock of David” (R. xxii. 16, 
where see notes). ‘‘ Hath conquered,” ἐνίκησεν, refers to our 
Lord’s conquest by his death upon the cross. ἐγὼ νενίκηκα τὸν 
κόσμον, “1 have conquered the world” (Jhn. xvi. 33). We 
have had the word before at R. ili. 21, ὡς κἀγὼ ἐνίκησα, where 
it istranslated ‘‘as I also have overcome.” To overcome and 
to conquer have not exactly the same meaning. 


THE JEWISH THEME 197 


6. Καὶ εἶδον ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ θρόνου καὶ τῶν τεσσάρων ζῴων 
καὶ ἐν μέσῳ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ἀρνίον ἑστηκὸς ὡς ἐσφαγ- 
μένον, ἔχων κέρατα ἑπτὰ καὶ ὀφθαλμοὺς ἑπτὰ, οἵ εἰσιν τὰ 
ἑπτὰ πνεύματα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀπεσταλμένα εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν. 
(5. has ἀπεσταλμένοι.) 


6. And I saw and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four 
living creatures, and in the midst of the ancients, a Lamb, standing as it 
were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the Seven Spirits 
of God sent forth into all the earth. 


As the Seer looked, a Lamb appeared, in the midst of the 
throne, ’Apviov, an innocent Lamb. S. John the Evangelist 
records the exclamation of 5. John the Baptist, ‘‘ Behold 
the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” 
(Jhn. i. 29). “As it were slain” refers to the death upon the 
cross—His propitiatory sacrifice (Isa. liii. 7). A little later 
the choirs of heaven acclaim the Lamb that was slain as 
worthy of Divinity (R. v.12). He is the risen Lamb, stand- 
ing ready to protect His Church, with seven horns. Horns 
are used as emblems of power in the Hebrew Scriptures ; see 
Ps. Ixxiv. 11; Dan. vii. 7, 8, 20, 24, vili. 3, 8, 9, 20, 21; Zach. i. 18. 
Seven has no limits. Hence, “seven horns” means unlimited 
power. 

Seven eyes, “which are the seven spirits of God sent forth 
into all the earth.”” The Seven Spirits are put for the Paraclete. 
** These things saith he who has the Seven Spirits of God” 
(R. iii. 1). “Seven lamps burning before the throne, which 
are the Seven Spirits of God” (R. iv. 5). We read in the 
Gospel of S. John, “ If I go not the paraclete will not come to 
you, but if I go I will send him to you” (Jhn. xvi. 7). 


7. Kai ἦλθεν καὶ εἴληφεν ἐκ τῆς δεξιᾶς τοῦ καθημένου 
ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου. 


7. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat 
on the throne. 


This is a symbolic illustration of the first sentence of the 
Book. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to 
him, to make known to his servants.” The Lamb took the 
seven sealed book of Revelation out of the right hand of God. 


198 THE REVELATION 


8. Kat ὅτε ἔλαβεν τὸ βιβλίον, τὰ τέσσερα ζῷα καὶ οἱ 
εἴκοσι τέσσαρες πρεσβύτεροι ἔπεσαν ἐνώπιον τοῦ ἀρνίου 
δ τὸ ἕκαστος κιθάραν καὶ φιάλας χρυσᾶς γεμούσας 

υ 


μιαμάτων, αἵ εἶσιν αἱ προσευχαὶ τῶν ἁγίων. 


8. And when he had opened the book, the four living creatures and the 
four-and-twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, having every one of 
them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the 
saints. 


The four living creatures as well as the four-and-twenty 
ancients fell down before the Lamb and acknowledged his 
Divinity, (see R. iv. 9, 10). Κιθάραν, translated “ harps,” 
refers to the zither of the O.T. (Ps. xxxii. 2). All are ready 
to give the music of the zither to song, (see next verse). 
Golden vials Prof. M. Stuart points out should be rendered 
golden goblets. Φιάλη means a shallow vessel, very different 
from the chemist’s “‘phial” of our day. The dictionaries 
described it as a flat, shallow cup, or drinking bowl, such as was 
used for burning incense in the Temple of Jerusalem. 

They are “‘ full of odours which are the prayers of the saints,” 
showing that the angels and saints of heaven both plead them- 
selves, and offer up the prayers of Christians, τῶν ἁγιών, before 
the throne of God. ᾿Αγιών stands for the Church militant. At 
R. xx. 8, the camp of the saints, “ τῶν dyer,” is put for the 
Church on earth. This doctrine of the Communion of Saints 
is taught again at R. vi. 10, and viii. 3,4. (See ἁγιών, pp. 49, 91.) 


9. Kal ddovow @dinv καινὴν, λέγοντες, "A€vos εἶ λαβεῖν 
Ν 5 “ἀν δ Pe χα, \ A NaH τὸς, 3 , 
τὸ βιβλίον καὶ ἀνοῖξαι τὰς σφραγῖδας αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐσφάγης 
καὶ ἠγόρασας τῷ Θεῷ ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου ἐκ πάσης φυλῆς 
καὶ γλώσσης καὶ λαοῦ καὶ ἔθνους. 


9. And they sang a new canticle, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to 
take the book and to open the seals thereof, because thou wast slain, and 
hast redeemed us to God in thy blood, out of every tribe and tongue and 
people and nation. 


Canticles were numerous in the O.T. See Psalm xxxii. 
The Canticle of Canticles is one of the Books of Solomon. 
This is a N.T. canticle, in homage of Christ, the Lamb. He 
is worthy because He was slain, and has redeemed us to God 
in His blood. There is a peculiarity about the use of the 
verb σφάξζεσθαι, denoting sacrifice, in regard to our Redeemer 
(R. v. 6, 9, 12, xiii. 8). It is derived from the figure of 


THE JEWISH THEME 199 


Isaias, ‘‘ Led as a sheep to the slaughter” (Isa. lili. 7). It 
is not found elsewhere in the N.T. (Swete, op. cit., p. 81). 
It corresponds with the death of the martyrs, whose c 
to Heaven preludes the action of the Book (R. vi. 9, a 
and with the description of the death of the martyrs of Rome 
(xviii. 24). It is a connecting word between Christ and His 
martyrs, like the verb Νικάω, to conquer. Both words refer to 
the Sacrifice of Calvary, and point to religious persecutions in 
this Book. ‘‘ Every tribe, etc.,” designates the universality of 
the Redemption. 


ων “ “ Ν 
10. Καὶ ἐποίησας αὐτοὺς τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν βασιλείαν καὶ 
ἱερεῖς, καὶ βασιλεύσουσιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. 


το. And hast made us to our God a Kingdom and priests ; and we shail 
reign over the earth. 


This verse connects with R. i. 6, where see notes. It seems to 
be voiced by the twelve Apostles who were made priests. It 
connects also with R. xx. 6, ‘‘ Blessed and holy is he that hath 
part in the first resurrection, in these the second death has no 
power: but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall 
reign with hima thousand years.” The Church is His kingdom, 
foretold in the Scriptures; and the priesthood is thrown open to 
all. It is nolonger confined, as in the Old Law, to the Levites. 
It is the promise of Isaias fulfilled. ‘‘And I will take them 
to be priests and Levites saith the Lord” (Ixvi. 21). ‘‘ And we 
shall reign ”—in heaven—is disclosed in R. xx. 6, where those 
who have part in the first resurrection, “shall reign with him.” 
See R. xx. 6, notes. The Gospel of the Kingdom is in view. 


11. Kai εἶδον, καὶ ἤκουσα ὡς φωνὴν ἀγγέλων πολλῶν 
κύκλῳ τοῦ θρόνου καὶ τῶν ζῴων καὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων, καὶ 
Hv ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτῶν μυριάδες μυριάδων καὶ χιλιάδες χιλιάδων. 


11. And I saw, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the 
throne, and the living creatures and the ancients ; and the number of them 
was thousands of thousands. 


A further development of the vision of the throne of God is 
noted. The Seer heard the acclamations of myriads of angels 
joined to those of the ancients and living creatures. The angels 
formed a circle stretching away on all sides from the throne. 


200 THE REVELATION 


The words μυριάδες and χιλιάδες are taken from Daniel vii. 10, 
where the same numbers of attendant angels occur, in reverse 
order. 


a » 
12. Λέγοντες φωνῇ μεγάλῃ. ᾿Αξιόν ἐστιν τὸ ἀρνίον τὸ 
ἐσφαγμένον λαβεῖν τὴν δύναμιν καὶ πλοῦτον καὶ σοφίαν καὶ 
ἰσχὺν καὶ τιμὴν καὶ δόξαν καὶ εὐλογίαν. 


12. Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to 
receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and 
glory and benediction. 


The angels and saints of heaven acclaimed the Lamb 
worthy, not only to open the book, but to receive sevenfold 
gifts, that is the unlimited attributes of the Divinity. Compare 
this with the doxology which the angels address to the enthroned 
God at R. vii. 12, where see notes. Πλοῦτον, above, trans- 
lated ‘‘ divinity,” is translated “riches” at R. xviii. 17. Alsoat 
2 Cor. viii. 9. It is put here on a level with power and wisdom 
and strength. Asa dictionary word πλοῦτος means “ wealth.” 
But in this context it connects with πλούσιος at Κα. 11. 9, and 
ili. 17, where spiritual riches are in view. 


I 4 Kat πᾶν io 9 2p »“"ἢΕ > ανῷῶ %, τὶ ~ ~ Ν 
_ 13. Kat πᾶν κτίσμα ὅ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ 
ὑποκάτω τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης ἃ ἐστιν, καὶ τὰ ἐν 
3 A 4, » lal Ν “A 
αὐτοῖς πάντα, ἤκουσα λέγοντας, Τῷ καθημένῳ ἐπὶ τοῦ 
’ Ν lal / 
θρόνου καὶ τῷ apviw ἡ εὐλογία καὶ ἡ τιμὴ καὶ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ 
΄ 3 ‘ lal 
κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. 


13. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under 
the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them ; I heard all 
saying, To him that sitteth on the throne and to the Lamb, benediction and 
honour and glory and power, for ever and ever. 


(S. omits ἅ ἐστιν and puts τῷ θρόνῳ.) 

The whole created world echoed the homage of the heavenly 
hosts, saying, “to him that sitteth on the throne and to the 
Lamb.” Thus marking the equality of the Lamb with the 
enthroned God. To them be ‘benediction and honour and 
glory and power.” This fourfold doxology takes us back to 
the vision of the throne of God, R. iv. g-11, where the four 
living creatures “gave glory and honour and benediction”’ and 
the four-and-twenty ancients gave “glory and honour and 
power” to God. We have all these expressions repeated here 


THE JEWISH THEME 201 


in English. But in the Greek, εὐχαριστία is given to God 
and εὐλογία to the Lamb (see R. v. 12). And δύναμις is given 
to God, and also to the Lamb (see R. iv. τι, notes). At 
R. vii. 12 there is another sevenfold doxology given to God, 
in which εὐλογία occurs, translated “ benediction,” and δύναμις, 
“power,” again occurs. Κράτος, ‘‘ power,’ above, is not a 
new expression. We had it at R. i. 6, where it is translated 
“empire.” Κράτος as a dictionary word means “might,” 
*‘strength,” “force,” “dominion.” Κράτος appears in 1 Pet. 
iv. 11, where it is translated “empire.” It is given to 
the Lamb at Κα. 1. 6, in connection with His Kingdom. 

Three stands for God, and four for created things, the 
foundation of the sacred symbolism of seven. We have 
“the creatures,” above, in heaven, on earth, in hades, and in 
the seas’ four locations, which embrace all created beings, 
offering up fourfold praise. 


la ’ 
14. Καὶ τὰ τέσσερα ζῷα ἔλεγον, ᾿Αμήν, καὶ ot πρεσβύ- 
τεροι ἔπεσαν καὶ προσεκύνησαν. 


14. And the four living creatures said, Amen ; and the ancients fell down 
on their faces and adored. 


English Bibles have the four-and-twenty ancients, and finish 
off this sentence by adding, after “adored,” ‘‘ him that liveth for 
ever and ever,” as in the Vulgate. 8. and B. both omit it as not 
sanctioned by the best codices. The vision of the throne of God 
is the preface to the action of the Book. It confirms the origin 
of the Revelation, as derived from God through Jesus Christ, 
who is worthy to open the seals of the future. It has important 
connections with the rest of the book, showing its unity of 
design and continuity. Rewards promised to those who over- 
come in the seven Churches are illustrated. The vision of the 
throne remains in permanent session during the rest of the 
action of the Book. The four living creatures call attention to 
the importance of certain visions. The ancients help to explain 
matters to S. John, and proclaim the justice of God’s judgments. 
Angels come and go, carrying out the edicts of the throne. 
The martyrs appear before the throne, when their martyrdom 
has been accomplished. The whole choir of heaven intervenes 
with choruses of praise from time to time, throwing a side light 
on events. The dramatic import of this vision should be borne 
in mind, as it forms the stage or background of future visions. 


202 THE REVELATION 


CHAPTER VI 


ἈΝ > ν » Ν 9 ,ὔ ’ 5 A“ ε τς 
Ι. Καὶ εἶδον ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὸ ἀρνίον μίαν ἐκ τῶν ἑπτὰ 
σφραγίδων, καὶ ἤκουσα ἑνὸς ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ζῴων 
, ε a ΕἾ 
λέγοντος ὡς φωνῇ βροντῆς, Ἔρχου. 


1. And I saw that the Lamb had opened one of the seven seals, and I 
heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, 
Come. 


English Bibles follow the Vulgate and print ‘‘ Come and see.” 
One of the four living creatures calls attention in a voice of 
thunder to the first apparition, because Christ appears and 
thunder is appropriate to His majesty. The word “ come ”— 
"Epyouv-——is used towards the close of the Book, as an invitation. 
‘And the spirit and the bride say come” (R. xxii. 17); also 
at R. xxil. 20, “Come, Lord Jesus.” It is not necessarily a 
categorical imperative. Particular attention is drawn to the 
figure issuing from this first seal, and to three others which 
follow, because of their importance in the scheme of action of 
the Book. 

“Had opened one of the seven seals” means that the figure 
of Christ which appears on the opening of the first or outermost 
seal was already, and for an indefinite period, in evidence. 


2. Καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος λευκός, καὶ 6 καθήμενος ἐπ᾽ 

ΟΝ » ’ Ν 5 / > lal / Ν 9 etn 
αὐτὸν ἔχων τόξον, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ στέφανος, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν 
νικῶν καὶ ἵνα νικήσῃ. 


2. And I saw and beheld a white horse, and he that sat on him had ἃ bow, 
and a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering that he might 
conquer. 


Corresponding with the first seal, a figure on horseback, capar- 
isoned as a Parthian king, appears upon the stage. When 
we reflect that the action of the Book begins here, and that it 
predicts the complete overthrow of the Roman Empire, held in 
the year 67 to be invincible except in the direction of Parthia, 
the appropriateness of the Parthian symbol to the occasion must 
be acknowledged. White horses were used by the Parthian 
Kings, leading their armies. They were in ancient times con- 
sidered as omens of victory. Candore nivali, hoc ad victoria omen 
pertinet. They were used by victors in triumphal processions 


THE JEWISH THEME 203 


(Virg. Aen., iii. 537). The figure is armed with a bow, a weapon 
of warfare used at that time by the Parthians, but not by the 
Romans. Parthian coins of the years 42-65, during a portion 
of which time S. John travelled in Mesopotamia, showed the 
Parthian king mounted on a white horse, on the obverse; and 
seated, holding a bow, on the reverse. In the year 66, Tiridates, 
a Parthian prince and general of armies, came to Rome to be 
crowned King of Armenia by Nero. We can imagine him 
riding through the streets of Rome, on a white horse, with the 
bow. ‘And a crown was given to him”’ completes the picture. 

But the rider is Jesus Christ, who went forth, ‘‘ Conquering 
that he might conquer.” ‘The symbolism is Parthian, because 
in no other quarter could a conqueror of Rome be found. We 
are not left in doubt as to the identity of the rider. Like God 
Almighty on the throne, he is not named at first, but introduced 
as ὁ καθήμενος, ‘‘He that sat,” (R. iv. 3). ‘‘ Conquering,” 
“‘yux@v,”’ introduces a characteristic of our Lord (see iii. 21). 
And the crown, στέφανος, is the reward of victory. 

The figure appears again in the final battle, the dramatic 
ending of the Roman theme—Chapter xix.—where we are told, 
‘*‘behold a white horse and he that sat on him,” καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος 
λευκός, καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν, word for word as in this verse, 
to show the connection. He was called “the Faithful and True” 
(R. xix. 11). And again “his name is called the Word of God” 
(R. xix. 13). 


A 9 4 Ν ~ A , ¥ 
3. Kai ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν δευτέραν, ἤκουσα 
τοῦ δευτέρου ζῴου λέγοντος, Ἔρχου. 


3. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second living 
creature saying, Come. 


We are told that this is the second seal. Consequently that 
previously opened was the first. The second living creature 
says “come,” or as the Vulgate renders it, “come and see.” 
This special notification is addressed through S. John to 
students of the Apocalypse. It calls our attention to the 
importance of this vision. 


204. THE REVELATION 


4. Kat εξῆλθεν ἄλλος ἵππος πυρρός, καὶ τῷ καθημένῳ ἐπ᾽ 
αὐτὸν ἐδόθη αὐτῷ λαβεῖν τὴν εἰρήνην ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἵνα 
ἀλλήλους σφάξουσιν, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ μάχαιρα μεγάλη. 


4. And there went out another horse that was red, and it was granted to 
him that sat thereon to take away peace from the earth, and that they 
should kill one another, and a great sword was given to him. 


The red horse isa symbol of war. That idea is reinforced by 
saying that “it was granted to him that sat thereon to take away 
peace from the earth.” Τῆς γῆς refers to the Roman Empire 
in this Book. ‘“ And that they should kill one another” refers 
to the enemies of God’s Church. A great sword symbolises 
great slaughter; so great that the statement of the armies and 
bloodshed will cause astonishment (R. ix. 16, xiv. 20). We 
have here a distinct prediction of civil wars, and wars between 
the enemies of the Church. There were horrible civil wars 
then breaking out in Jerusalem. There was warfare between 
the Romans and the Jews, and the death of Nero let loose 
civil war on the Empire. Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian 
fought, and deluged Rome and Italy with blood. And all these 
predictions did “shortly come to pass” (R.i. 1). There was 
almost constant warfare in the Roman Empire until it fell. 


5. Καὶ ὅτε ἥνοιξεν τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν τρίτην, ἤκουσα τοῦ 
τρίτου ζῴου λέγοντος Ἔρχου, καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος 
μέλας, καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν ἔχων ζυγὸν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ 
αὐτοῦ. 

5. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third living 


creature, saying, Come. And behold a black horse and he that sat on 
him had a pair of scales in his hand. 


From the third seal came forth a black horse. Black typifies 
mourning. ‘‘ He that sat on him had a pair of scales in his 
hand.” Weighing food is Scriptural symbolism for famine, as 
in Lev. xxvi. 26, They shall ‘‘ give it out (bread) by weight, 
and you shall eat and shall not be filled.” This, with reference 
to the Jews, ‘‘ Behold I will break in pieces the staff of bread 
in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight, and with 
care” (Ezech. iv. 16). Food grains were not sold by weight 
but by measure. Hence scales indicate a time of great scarcity. 
The black horse represents famine. 


THE JEWISH THEME 205 


6 ‘ ¥ ε Ν > ΄ aA U4 ΄ 

. Καὶ ἤκουσα ὡς φωνὴν ἐν μέσῳ τῶν τεσσάρων ζῴων 
λέγουσαν, Χοῖϊνιξ σίτου δηναρίου, καὶ τρεῖς χοίνικες κριθῶν 
δηναρίου, καὶ τὸ ἔλαιον καὶ τὸν οἶνον μὴ ἀδικήσῃς. 


6. And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, 
saying, Two pounds of wheat for a penny, and thrice two pounds of barley 
for a penny, and wine and oil hurt thou not. 


“And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four 
living creatures,” indicates the voice of God. ‘“‘ Saying, a choenix 
of wheat for a denarius and three choenixes of barley for a 
denarius.’’ A chcenix measured about a quart. The denarius 
was a silver piece equal to about eightpence of our money, and 
was a day’s wage (Matt. xx. 9, 10). In ordinary seasons eight 
choenixes of wheat were sold for a denarius. The “ voice” 
predicts a famine in which food grains would be raised in price 
about 800 per cent. Those who have had experience of Indian 
famines know that the severity of a famine is tested by the 
price of food grains, and that a rise of 800 per cent. shows a 
severe famine. Two pounds of wheat for a penny would indi- 
cate a time of plenty, instead of a famine, for two pounds of 
wheat make a four-pound loaf. But the penny in view here, 
as in Matt. xx. 12, equals the ancient Anglo-Saxon silver penny, 
which, as easterling or denarius, superseded the sceat and the 
Roman coinage in England about the year 775, and remained 
in circulation for centuries. Copper pennies were introduced 
in the eighteenth century. 

Wine and oil may have been put here as symbols of the 
Nazarene Church, which was preserved from the famine of 
Jerusalem by flight. The verb ἀδικεῖν is used in this book at 
R, il. 11, vi. 6, vii. 2, ix. 4, 10, 19, and xi. 5, with reference to 
personal injury, its usual sense. The wine and oil of the 
Temple were sacred ; the latter was used for anointing the high 
priests. The holy name “ Messias” meant, in Hebrew, ‘the 
anointed.”’ The lamps of the tabernacle were fed with oil by 
the high priests, who alone might touch them. The Seer must 
have foreseen the desecration of the oil and wine by John of 
Gischala in the Temple of Jerusalem. 


Josephus says: 


“This man, who was a Jew, seized on what were the donations 
of foreigners, and said to those that were with him that it was 
proper for them to use divine things, while they were fighting for 
the Divinity, without fear, and that such, whose warfare is for the 
Temple, should live off the Temple; on which account he emptied 


206 ᾿ς THE REVELATION 


the vessels of that sacred wine and oil which the priests kept to be 
poured on the burnt-offerings, and which lay in the inner court of 
the Temple, and distributed it among the multitude, who, in their 
anointing themselves and drinking, used (each of them) above an hin 
of them; and here I cannot but speak my mind, and what the 
concern I am under dictates to me, and it is this: I suppose that, 
had the Romans made any longer delay in coming against these 
villains, the city would either have been swallowed up by the 
ground opening upon them, or been overflowed by water, or else 
been destroyed by such thunder as the country of Sodom perished 
by” (bk. V. cap. xiii.). 


Josephus, who was of the priestly order, was so shocked, by 
this desecration of the oil and wine, that he thought Jerusalem 
would have been destroyed by thunder, like Sodom. Here we 
get an idea of the sacredness of the oil and wine. ‘‘ Hurt thou 
not” is either a mandate forecasting the immunity of the 
Nazarene Church, or a warning to the Jews that the sacrilegious 
profanation of the holy oil and wine would fill up the cup of 
their iniquity. 

A “hin” was about one gallonanda half. Note that thunder 
symbolises the destruction of a city by Divine ordination. 


, 9 ¥ \ A κ᾿ , ¥ 
7. Kat ore ἤνοιξεν τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν τετάρτην, ἤκουσα 
φωνὴν τοῦ τετάρτου ζῴου λέγοντος, Ἔρχου. 


7. And when he had opened the fourth seal I heard the voice of the 
fourth living creature, saying, Come. 


> Y 

8. Kai εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος χλωρός, καὶ 6 καθήμενος 
3 , 3 A“ ᾿Ξ ΒΗ Ὁ: ΄ . © » 3 
ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ, ὄνομα αὐτῷ ὁ θάνατος, καὶ 6 ᾷδης ἠκολούθει 
μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς ἐξουσία ἐπὶ τὸ τέταρτον τῆς γῆς, 
ἀποκτεῖναι ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ καὶ ἐν λιμῷ καὶ ἐν θανάτῳ, καὶ ὑπό 
τῶν θηρίων τῆς γῆς. 

8. And behold a pale horse, and he that sat upon him, his name was. 
Death, and hell followed him. And power was given to him over the four 


parts of the earth, to kill with sword, with famine, and with death, and with 
the beasts of the earth. 


The Greek word used above, to denote the colour of the 
fourth horse, is χλωρός, “ green,” to correspond with the colour 
of the rider. Not θάνατος, ‘‘death,’ but ὁ θάνατος, death 
personified by a corpse. In hot countries a corpse turns green 
and is buried within a few hours of death. But θάνατος has 


THE JEWISH THEME 207 


another meaning, as we have seen at R. ii. 23. It means 
* pestilence.” The Hebrew word “pestilence” is rendered 
θανάτος more than thirty times by the Septuagint. The com- 
bination of war, famine and pestilence, is frequently predicted 
as the punishment of the impenitent Jews in the O.T., as in 
Jer. xiv. 12, xxi. 7, xxiv. 10, xxix. 17, 18, xxxii. 36, xliv. 13; 
Ezech. v. 12, vi. 12, xii. 16. ‘‘For thus saith the Lord, 
Although I shall send in upon Jerusalem my four grievous 
judgments, the sword, and the famine, and the mischievous 
beasts, and the pestilence to destroy out of it man and beast ” 
(Ezech. xiv. 21). These four form a natural sequence. The 
wolf, the jackal, the hyena, and the starving pariah dog, prowl 
through famine stricken districts and over battlefields, gnawing 
the slain. And pestilence follows the contamination of the 
atmosphere by the unburied bodies of the dead. 

And hell followed him: déns, here translated “hell,” is not 
the place of the damned. That is called “the pool of fire 
burning with brimstone” in this Book. A clear distinction is 
made between it and ἄδης. Hades is a place of waiting for the 
general judgment. Josephus describes it in his “ Discourse to 
the Greeks concerning Hades” asa limboor purgatory. Hades 
and Death personified, above, are cast into the pool of fire in 
the end. See R. xx. 13, 14, notes. 

And power was given to him (Death) over τὸ τέταρτον τῆς 
γῆς, “the fourth part of the earth.” A strange limitation. 
Catholic Bibles rightly follow the Vulgate in translating the 
above “the four parts of the earth” (see R. vii. 1). 

The first four seals disclose our Lord as a conqueror prepared 
for battle against the foes of His Church, with the symbols of His 
army, war, famine, and pestilence. These are the same forces 
with which He controlled the chosen people and their enemies. 
They were foretold by the prophets for the last days of Jerusalem 
Those days are in view. The four living creatures draw our 
particular attention to these figures, because they also fulfil the 
judgments of God under the New Law. They are the forces 
with which Rome is conquered in this Book, and with which 
the enemies of God’s Church are overcome down to the last 
days. When therefore we read of hail and fire and earthquakes 
in the pages of the Apocalypse, we may know that war, famine, 
or pestilence are at work. 

The next verse, although it begins with Kal, “and,” as usual, 
opens a fresh chapter, dealing with the ‘‘ cause of the martyrs,” 
one of the principal motives of the Book. 


208 THE REVELATION 


9. Καὶ ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὴν πέμπτην σφραγῖδα, εἶδον ὑ ὑποκάτω 
τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἐσφαγμένων διὰ τὸν λόγον 
τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ διὰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἣν εἶχον. 


9. And when he’had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls 
of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which 
they held. 


There is no altar in the vision, as yet. But the Seer always 
pictures Christ and the martyrs as offered up to God sacrificially, 
as if on the altar of sacrifice in the Temple of Jerusalem. He 
has that altar, θυσιαστηρίον (from θυω, to immolate), in view. 
See ἑσφαγμένων, R. v. 6, 9, 12, vi. 9, xiii. 8, xviii. 24. But why 
under the altar? The altar, or rock of Abraham on which the 
altar stood, is now in the Mosque of Omar, where it may be 
examined. A channel leads from it, down which the blood of 
victims flowed to a cavern under the altar. “ Because the life 
of the flesh is in the blood,” ἡ yap ψυχὴ πάσης σαρκὸς αἷμα 
αὐτοῦ ἐστίν (Lev. xvii. 11), the Seer sees τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν 
ἐσφαγμένων under the altar, where their blood collected. 

They ‘were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony 
- τὴν paptuptav—which they held.” Compare with R. i. 2, and 
R. i. 9, where S. John writes that he was at Patmos, διὰ τὸν 
λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν "Inco, and with Ks XR 4, 
where these souls are again referred to as ‘ras: ψυχὰς τῶν 
πεπελεκισμένων διὰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν ᾿Ιησοῦ καὶ δὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ 
Θεοῦ. “The souls beheaded on account of the testimony of 
Jesus and because of the word of God.’ These passages 
support each other in indicating the souls of the martyrs. 


10. Kat ἔκραξαν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ, λέγοντες, Ἕως πότε, O 
δεσπότης ὃ ὃ ἅγιος καὶ ἀληθινός, οὐ κρίνεις καὶ ἐκδικεῖς τὸ 
αἷμα ἡμῶν ἐκ τῶν κατοικούντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. 


το. And they cried with a loud voice saying. How long, O Lord (holy 
and true), dost thou not judge and revenge our blood on them that dwell on 
the earth. 


In the Vulgate the words ‘‘ holy and true” are in brackets. 
But brackets were not in use in the first century 

The connection of the souls under the altar with the martyrs 
is further evidenced by the words “‘ revenge our blood.” There 
are many references to the vengeance of God upon His 
adversaries, the enemies of His chosen people, in the O.T., 


THE JEWISH THEME 209 


and on the Jews for their iniquities, in Isaias xxxiv. 8, Ezech. 
xxiv. 8. Also in the N.T., as in Luke xxi. 22, “‘ Revenge to 
me, I will repay saith the Lord” (Rom. xii. 19). The martyrs’ 
loud cry is heard in heaven. They address God as 6 δεσπότης, 
the Supreme Power. ‘Holy and True,” His attributes at 
R. iii. 7. 

τ ὙΡΑΣ those ”’—xaro:xotytay ἐπὶ τῆς yhs—‘ who dwell on 
the earth.” This is an important phrase, for it indicates 
those upon whom vengeance is called down. We will find 
it often repeated in connection with punishments upon the 
enemies of God’s Church, Jew, Roman, or other. Towards the 
close of the Roman theme, the court of heaven cries out, 
“‘For true and just are his judgments, who hath judged the 
great harlot which corrupted the earth with her fornication, 
and hath revenged the blood of his servants at her hands” 
(R. xix. 2). Here the words ἀληθιναὶ, ἔκρινεν, τὴν γῆν and τὸ 
αἷμα τῶν δούλων αὐτοῦ, all correspond with verse 10 above, and 
point to the accomplishment of the martyrs’ prayer. 


11. Kai ἐδόθη ἀυτοῖς ἑκάστῳ στολὴ λευκή, καὶ ἐρρέθη 
αὐτοῖς ἵνα ἀναπαύσονται ἔτι χρόνον μικρόν, ἕως πληρω- 
θῶσιν καὶ οἱ σύνδουλοι αὐτῶν καὶ οἵ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτῶν οἱ 
μέλλοντες ἀποκτέννεσθαι ὡς καὶ αὐτοί. 


11. And white robes were given to every one of them one, and it was said 
to them that they should rest for a little time, till their fellow-servants and 
their brethren, who are to be slain even as they, should be filled up. 


And white robes were given to everyone of them. ‘‘ White 
robes” — στολὴ λευκή —are the characteristic garb of the 
martyrs. rod») signifies a long robe (see Mark xii. 38). When 
their roll is complete, the martyrs appear ‘‘ before the throne,” 
clothed in στολὰς λευκάς (R. vii. 9, where see notes). 

And they were told to wait—éva dvatratvcovtar—“ to enjoy 
repose”’foralittletime. Till their fellow servants—rév δούλων 
αὐτοῦ (R. xix. 2), and their brethren shall be slain; even as they! 
They “ were slain for the word of God and for the testimony ”’ 
—Tiv μαρτυρίαν (R. vi. g). They are asked to rest until the 
completion of the martyrs’ roll. To rest for a little time— 
χρόνον pxpov—which is reinforced by the expression μέλλοντες, 
the future proximate, signifying that the martyrs’ roll would 
soon be completed. So far as history is concerned the martyrs’ 
roll was completed about two hundred years later. But so far 
as the Revelation is concerned, it is completed in this Chapter 

14 


210 THE REVELATION 


of the Book. We have μικρὸν χρόνον again at R. xx. 3, where 
see notes. 

There is a distinction drawn between “servants” and 
“brethren.” Servants in this Book hold a high position (see 
R. i. 1, ii. 20). Both hierarchy and laity are found in the 
martyrs’ roll. 

The next seal contains the vision of the ten persecutions. 
Note here that the souls of the martyrs are represented as 
complaining to God because of the continued sufferings of 
their brethren. They call him ὁ deo7erns—the absolute ruler, 
as in a similar passage in the O.T. (Jer. iv. 10). The souls 
are represented as placated with the gift of white robes, and 
as told to wait a little time till the martyrs’ roll is filled up. 
This explains the millennium. See R. xx. 4, notes. 

The completion of the martyrs’ roll fills up the cup of Roman 
iniquity, and brings down judgment upon her. The verb «piva, 
to judge, occurs often later on in the Book in response to the 
martyrs’ prayer (ὀυκρίνεις), ¢.g., at R. xvi. 5, xviii. 8, 20, 
xix. 2-II. 


12. Καὶ εἶδον ore ἤνοιξεν τὴν σφραγῖδα THY ἕκτην, καὶ 
σεισμὸς μέγας ἐγένετο, καὶ ὃ ἥλιος ἐγένετο μέλας ὡς σάκκος 
τρίχινος, καὶ ἡ σελήνη ὅλη ἐγένετο ὡς αἷμα. 


12. And I saw when he had opened the sixth seal, and behold there was 
a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the 
whole moon became as blood. 


Kai—and—begins a new phase of the Revelation, containing 
a symbolic description of the ten persecutions. The four living 
creatures have called our attention to the real forces at the 
back of this vision. The red horse is at work, but his sword 
is temporarily in the hands of the Cesars. The sword of 
persecution is “given” to them for the good of the Church. 
This vision looks back to R. ii. 10, the ‘‘ tribulations” promised 
to the second or Smyrnian age of the Church. 

The ten persecutions are placed in the forefront of the Book 
that the servants of God may know and be prepared for the 
sufferings in store for them. They form the justification for 
the terrible calamities inflicted upon the enemies of the Church 
described in the Book. See R. xvi. 5, 6, 7. “‘ Thou art just, 
O Lord, who art and who wast, the holy one, who has judged 
these things: for they have shed the blood of the saints and 
prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they 


THE JEWISH THEME 211 


deserved it... .” “ Yea, O Lord God Almighty, true and just 
are thy judgments.” See also R. xviii. 24, XIX. II. 

The persecutions are symbolised in a way which the Hebrew 
servants of God would understand. ‘ Behold there was a great 
earthquake.” Earthquakes and movements of the earth are Ὁ 
used in the O.T. as indicating political upheavals. The 
prophet Isaias foretold the destruction of Jerusalem as an 
earthquake (xxix. 6), and predicted that the wise men of the 
Jews would not understand the vision. ‘And the vision of 
all shall be unto you as the words of a book that is sealed” 
(xxix. 11). Jeremias says, “At the noise of the taking of 
Babylon, the earth is moved” (1. 46). Zacharias foretells the 
calamities of Jerusalem as of an earthquake (xiv. 4). His 
passages relating to the persecutions of the chosen people are 
in view here, as we shall see presently. The Seer describes 
the fall of Jerusalem as “a great earthquake ” (R. xi. 13), and 
the fall of Babylon, by which he means Rome, as “a great 
earthquake, such as never hath been since men were upon the 
earth”’ (R. xvi. 18). The Church, the Jews, and Rome, each 
have their earthquake in this Book. 

“‘And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair.” The 
sun stands for the Light of the Church, which was for a time 
eclipsed during the persecutions; the candlestick of the Smyrnian 
age was removed out of its place. We have a vision of the 
Church under the appearance of ‘a woman clothed with the 
sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown 
of twelve stars” at R. xii. 1 (where see notes). 

“And the whole moon became as blood.” The Church, the 
Ecclesia docens, is clothed with the sun, and sheds light upon 
the whole Christian community, which reposes at her feet, and 
which reflects her light like the moon. Christians were stained 
with their own blood in all parts of the Empire during the 
persecutions. The prophet Ezechiel uses the sun, moon, and 
stars as political symbols of the land of Egypt (xxxii. 7). Isaias 
refers to Babylon in like manner. Zacharias says of the woes 
of the Jews: “ And it shall come to pass in that day that there 
shall be no light” (xiv. 6). See Joel ii. το, and 31. ‘“‘ The sun 
shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood.” 


212 THE REVELATION 


Ν ε > va Les > Ἣν» 5 Ν “ i.e 
13. Kat ot ἀστέρες Tov οὐρανοῦ ἔπεσαν εἰς THY γὴν. ὡς 
al ’ Ν 3 ΄, ΒΕ. ἘΓΟ ΣΆ, Pes , 
συκῆ βάλλει τοὺς ὀλύνθους αὐτῆς ὑπὸ ἀνέμου μεγάλου 
σειομένη. 


13. And the stars from heaven fell upon the earth, as the fig tree casteth 
its green figs when it is shaken by a great wind. 


Both Daniel (viii. 10) and Ezechiel (xxxii. 7) use stars as the 
symbols of great personages. In this Book the symbolism of 
stars has been specially interpreted for us. ‘‘ The seven stars. 
are the angels of the seven churches” (R. i. 20). We have 
seen that they are bishops. The woman, symbolic of the 
Church at R. xii. 1, has a crown of twelve stars, who are 
the twelve Apostles. Our Lord calls Himself “the bright 
and morning star” (R. xxii. 16). We must take stars as 
referring to the hierarchy of the Church. “The stars of 
heaven fell upon the earth” means that they apostatised ; 
and the comparison with the fall of unripe figs, from a fig- 
tree shaken by the wind, shows that they were not perfect, 
and fell away in great numbers. We gather from S. Cyprian 
of Carthage, who described the Decian persecution (see p. 72), 
and from Eusebius, the historian, who wrote of the Diocletian 
persecution, that some of the Bishops were ill prepared and 
prone to fall. Eusebius says, ‘‘Some indeed from excessive 
dread, broken down and overpowered by their terrors, sank and 
gave way immediately at the first onset”” (Euseb., B.M.1). The 
Bishops of the Church were singled out for special treatment 
with a view to procuring their apostasy. The Czsars would 
rather have their adherence to paganism than their lives. 
Isaias, in a passage which the Seer remembered, says: ‘“ The 
heavens shall be folded together as a book; and all their host 
shall fall down, as the leaf falleth from the vine and from 
the fig tree” (xxxiv. 4). Multitudes of Christians, like unripe 
figs, were easily detached from the Church during the storms 
of persecution. In the Greek we have “the stars of heaven,” 
not “‘ from heaven ”’ (stelle de celo—Vg.). 


ΑΓ ΑΕ 
14. Καὶ ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀπεχωρίσθη ὡς βιβλίον ἐλισσόμενον, 
Ἀ A 3 σ΄“ A an 
καὶ πᾶν ὄρος Kal νῆσος EK TOV τόπων αὐτῶν ἐκινήθησαν. 


14. And the heavens were withdrawn as a book rolled up, and every 
mountain and the islands were moved out of their places. 


“And the heavens were withdrawn as a book rolled up.” As 
a papyrus roll—@:8riov—rolled up. The heavens are put here 


THE JEWISH THEME 213 


for the visible Church, which for a time disappeared. The Papal 
See was vacant for sixteen months in the Decian persecution. 
The Emperors more than once boasted that they had wiped 
Christianity completely off the face of the earth. The holy 
Scriptures, the word of God and testimony of heaven, were — 
diligently sought out and destroyed in the Diocletian persecu- 
tion (Euseb. H. E. viii. 2). 

Mountains in the O.T. are put for powers (Jer. li. 25; 
Ezech. vi. 3, xxxvi. I, 4,6, 8). We may take them to represent 
great Churches, such as those of Carthage and Alexandria, which 
were temporarily removed by persecution. Islands, following 
the same symbolism, are isolated Churches, in the era of pagan- 
ism, similarly destroyed, as Eumenia in Phrygia. 

Some of the old commentators took these symbols literally 
and saw in the fall of the stars from heaven, the heavens with- 
drawn as a manuscript rolled up, and the mountains and 
islands moved out of their places, a picture of the end of the 
world. But the symbolism of the O.T. and the context show 
that that idea was not in the mind of the Seer. He proceeds 
to describe the effect of this persecution on the generality of 
Christians in the next verse. We have much of this same 
symbolism, which is subsidiary to the horses of war, famine, 
and pestilence, repeated later, with reference to the retaliatory 
punishments on Jerusalem and Rome (see R. viii. 5, 8, 12; 
xvi. 20). Moreover, when the Seer does refer to the last days, 
as at the end of the Jewish theme, he does so in an unmistak- 
able manner, “as the time of the dead to be judged” (R. xi. 18), 
and at the end of the historic revelation, even more distinctly, 
as the day of Judgment (R. xx. 11-14). 


15- Kai ot βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς Kal ot μεγιστᾶνες καὶ ot 
χιλίαρχοι καὶ οἱ πλούσιοι Kal οἱ ἰσχυροὶ Kal πᾶς δοῦλος 
καὶ ἐλεύθερος ἔκρυψαν ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τὰ σπήλαια καὶ εἰς τὰς 
πέτρας τῶν ὀρέων. 


15. And the kings of the earth and the princes and the tribunes, and the 
rich and the strong, and every bondman and every freeman, hid themselves 
in the dens and in the rocks of mountains. 


After the heavens were withdrawn as a scroll, persecutions 
still raged, and Christians are shown hiding themselves in the 
dens (σπήλαια----““ grottos,” caves, or pits) and in the rocks of 
the mountains. We know as a matter of history that many 
Christians of all classes fled from the persecution; those at 
Rome fled into the catacombs, and those abroad into the 


214 THE REVELATION 


mountains and deserts. Seven classes of Christians are men-- 
tioned, which means all classes. Eusebius tells us that when 
the tenth persecution broke upon the Church, Christians were Ὁ 
entrusted with the government of Provinces, that the Church 
enjoyed perfect freedom, and that the Church buildings were 
spacious and filled with an illustrious concourse (H. E. viii. 1). 
Persecution broke out in the year 302. It began with the 
army. Military “tribunes” suffered. Tribunes were officers 
of the Roman legions. Their inclusion in the list above points 
to a Roman stage, and therefore to Roman persecution. The 
Diocletian persecution seems to be in view. It covered the 
whole extent of the Empire. Galerius in the East and 
Maximian in the West united with Diocletian in trying to 
extirpate Christianity. Eusebius says, ‘‘ Again the worshippers 
of God began to flee; again the open fields, the deserts, forests, 
and mountains received the servants of Christ ’”’ (Euseb. B.M. 
x. 8). 


Ν ΄ “Ὁ ¥ Ν “ ἈΝ /, 

16. Kat λέγουσιν τοῖς oper καὶ ταῖς πέτραις, Πέσετε 
ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς καὶ κρύψατε ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ καθημένου 
ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ ἀρνίου. 

16. And they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall upon us and 


hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the 
wrath of the Lamb. 


(8. -- πέσατε., ’ 

The fugitives called upon the mountains and rocks to fall 
upon them and hide them from “‘ the wrath of the Lamb.” This 
is a clear indication that they knew that they were suffering for 
their sins. Eusebius admits that persecution was a just punish- 
ment from God for the sins of the Church. It had not done 
penance as prescribed at R. ii. 5, hence its candlestick was 
removed out of its place. Who but Christians feared ‘the 
wrath of the Lamb’’? They said: “ Hide us from the face of 
him that*sitteth on the throne and the wrath of the Lamb.” 
Here we have the overshadowing presence of the vision of the 
throne of God, and S. John again strikes the note of equality 
between the Godhead on the throne and the Lamb (see R. xxii. 1). 

The Christian fear of God is the peculiar note of this vision. 
It is in splendid contrast with the behaviour of the pagans 
when the vials of God’s wrath were poured out upon them. 
They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains 
and wounds (R. xvi. 9-11). The fear of God is strongly incul- 
cated in this Book, even directly from the Throne. “A voice 
came out of the throne saying, Praise ye our God, all his 
servants and you that fear him, little and great” (R. xix. 5). 


THE JEWISH THEME 215 


17. Ὅτι ἦλθεν ἡ ἡμέρα ἡ μεγάλη τῆς ὀργῆς αὐτῶν, καὶ 
τίς δύναται σταθῆναι. 


17. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who shall be able to 
stand? 


The great day of their wrath—ris ὀργῆς avtov—refers to the 
Christians whose θλίψεις is in view. It may refer to the tenth 
persecution, the worst of all in duration and intensity. All the 
earth, says Lactantius, was deluged in blood. Rocks and fires, 
boiling oil and molten lead, sharp stakes and cruel stripes, wild 
beasts and every conceivable torture were brought into use. 
“And who shall be able to stand?” There is a note of 
humility in these concluding words. “If thou, O Lord, will 
mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand it ?” (Ps. cxxix. 3). 

The Hebraic symbolism used in the above vision is also found 
in Isaias. ‘And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and 
into the caves of the earth, from the face of the fear of the 
Lord” (ii. 19). See also Osee x. 8, and Luke xxiii. 30. Our 
Lord warns the daughters of Jerusalem. ‘Then shall they 
begin to say to the mountains, Fall upon us, and to the hills, 
Cover us.” 

Having foretold the persecutions, S. John now begins to 
reveal the punishment in store for the persecutors, and first the 
Jews. 


CHAPTER VII 


I. Mera ταῦτα εἶδον τέσσαρας ἀγγέλους ἑστῶτας ἐπὶ τὰς 
τέσσαρας γωνίας. τῆς ν γῆς, κρατοῦντας τοὺς ἵ τέσσαρας 
ἀνέμους τῆς γῆς, ἵνα μὴ πνέῃ ἄνεμος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς μήτε ἐπὶ 
τῆς θαλάσσης μήτε ἐπὶ πᾶν δένδρον. 


1. After these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of 
the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that they should not blow 
upon the earth, nor upon the sea, nor on any tree. 


Mera tavta— after these things””—is used here to denote a 
new departure. No seal is broken. Itisaninterlude. “The 
four corners of the earth” corresponds to the ancient view that 
the earth was a flat surface, stretching north, south, east, and 
west. Four angels restrain, as in a leash, the four winds of the 
earth. These four winds indicate the four scourges placed in 
the hands of Death, which had power “ over the four parts of 
the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with pestilence, 


216 THE REVELATION 


and with the beasts of the earth” (R. vi. 8). The Prophet - 
Zacharias had a vision of chariots, the first with red, the second 
with black, the third with white, and the fourth with grisled 
horses. And he asked what they were? An Angel answered, 
“These are the four winds of the heavens which go forth to 
stand before the Lord of all the earth” (vi. 5). They represent 
the traditional punishment of the Jews. ‘ He that shall abide 
in this city shall die by the sword and by the famine and by 
the pestilence” (Jer. xxi. 9; Ezech. vi. 11; see R. vi. 8, notes). 
These punishments are about to fall upon the Jews. But before 
they fall, it is necessary to assure Hebrew Christians that they 
will be saved. S. John sent this Book to the Nazarenes in the 
year 67, and he lets them know that the seal of baptism will pro- 
tect them from the terrible punishments of the Jews, which he 
is about to describe. For the symbolism of the earth, the sea, 
and the trees, see R. vii. 3. 


2. Kat εἶδον ἄλλον ἄγγελον ἀναβαίνοντα ἀπὸ ἀνατολῆς 
ἡλιόν, ἔχοντα σφραγῖδα Θεοῦ ζῶντος - καὶ ἔκραξεν φωνῇ 
μεγάλῃ τοῖς τέσσαρσιν, ἀγγέλοις οἷς ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς ἀδικῆσαι 
τὴν γὴν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν. 


2. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising sun, having the 
seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to 
whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea. 


As the sun rises with great splendour from the Eastern 
horizon of the 7Xgean Sea, so the Seer saw an Angel arise in 
the East. The “ Book of Enoch” places paradise in the East 
(xxiv. 2, 8). The Angel had the seal of the living God. This 
seal, or σφραγίς, was the symbol of baptism amongst the early 
Christians. ‘ And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels” 
at the four corners of the earth, “to whom it was given to hurt 
the earth and the sea.” The mission of the four angels comes 
plainly into view. It was given to them to hurt the earth and 
the sea and the trees. See next verse. 


3: Aeyov, Μὴ ἀδικήσητε τὴν γῆν μήτε THY θάλασσαν 
μήτε τὰ δένδρα, ἄχρι σφραγίσωμεν τοὺς δούλους τοῦ Θεοῦ 
ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τῶν μετώπων αὐτῶν. 

3. Saying, Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we seal the 
servants of our God in their foreheads. 


The earth and the sea and the trees have a symbolical 
significance of their own. 


THE JEWISH THEME 217 


Τὴν yiv— the earth”’—is put for the enemies of the Church 
(see R. vi. 10). “‘ The sea”’ is put for the inhabitants of the earth 
generally (see R. xii. 18, notes). ‘‘ When the multitude of the 
sea shall be converted to thee, the strength of the Gentiles 
shall come to thee” (Isa. Ix. 5). “The wicked are like the . 
raging sea, which cannot rest, and the waves thereof cast up 
dirt and mire” (Isa. lvii. 20). ‘‘The sea is come up over 
Babylon ” (Jer. li. 42). The Beast of the Apocalypse, meaning 
the Czesars, rises from the sea of life. ‘‘ The trees” stand for 
persons of distinction, princes, nobles, and the proud Jews. 
‘The Lord has brought down the high tree and exalted the low 
tree” (Ezech. xvii. 24). “Thou hast cut down every tree” 
(Ezech. xxi. 10). The prophet Daniel tells Baltassar that he is 
the tree of the vision, grown great and mighty (iv. 17, 19). 
“‘ Because the day of the Lord of hosts shall be on every one that 
is proud and high-minded,” . . . “and upon all the tall and lofty 
cedars of Libanus, and upon all the oaks of Basan’’ (Isa. il. 
12-13). Isaias uses the symbolism of trees in a political sense 
in a prediction of the rout of the Assyrians. “I will cut down 
its tall cedars and its choice fir trees” (xxxvii. 24). 

The Angels are told not to hurt the enemies of God, in this 
case his Jewish enemies, “ till we seal the servants of our God on 
their foreheads.” Servants, usually put for the Hebrew leaders 
of the Church, has a wider significance here, and covers all 
Hebrew Christians (see next verse). As in Exodus, the door- 
posts of the children of Israel were marked with the blood of a 
lamb to save the Israelites from the plagues of the firstborn 
(xii. 7), and in Ezechiel, an angel is ordered to mark with Thau 
the foreheads of the just in Jerusalem, to save them from the 
destroying angel (ix. 4-6), so the Hebrew servants of God are 
sealed to protect them from the vengeance of God upon their 
nation. 

The question is asked, How were they sealed? It is an 
historic question. Christians are in view, and they were sealed 
and differentiated from the rest of men by baptism. “ Going 
therefore teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of 
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost” (Matt. 
XXViii. 19; [Πη. 11]. 5). The rite of baptism fulfils the symbolism 
of sealing. 

S. Paul refers to ‘‘the seal of God” (2 Cor. i. 22; Eph. iv. 
30). Eusebius says that when Basilides, the soldier, wished to 
join the Church, the brethren gave him the seal, meaning 
baptism (H. E. vi. 5). Clement of Alexandria used the expres- 
sion ‘‘ the seal of the Lord” with reference to baptism. “The 
Presbyter taking the youth home . . . at length baptized him. 
After this he relaxed exercising his former care and vigilance as 


218 THE REVELATION 


if he had now committed him to a perfect safeguard in the seal - 
of the Lord” (“Who is the Rich Man’’). Abercius, who visited 

Rome about the year 216, left an inscribed steele, in which he 

mentions his intercourse with people at Rome having the 

lustrous seal (“λαμπρὰν ΣΦΡΑΓΕΙ͂ΔΑΝ Eyovta”’). According 

to Gregory Nazianzum (c. A.D. 380) the reason why Christians 

called baptism, σφραγίς, ‘a seal,” is because it is a preservation 

mark, or mark of dominion (Orat. 40). Asa matter of history, 

the Jews of Judea and Jerusalem who had been baptized fled 

to Pella and escaped the woes of the Jews. 


4. Καὶ ἤκουσα τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἐσφραγισμένων, ἑκατὸν 
τεσσεράκοντα τέσσαρες χιλιάδες ἐσφραγισμένοι ἐκ πάσης 
φυλῆς υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ. 

4. And I heard the number of them that were sealed, an hundred and 
forty-four thousand sealed, of every tribe of the children of Israel. 


‘“* And I heard the number of them,” is a formula indicating 
that the number is authoritative. We have it repeated again at 
R. ix. 16, where another round number is used. The number 
sealed corresponds with the twelve tribes multiplied by twelve 
thousand—twelve thousand of each tribe (see next verse). The 
question has been asked why is this sealing confined to the 
tribes of the children of Israel? It is to protect the Christian 
converts from Judaism from the catastrophes which are about 
to fall on the Jews. Gentile Christians needed no protection 
from sufferings, which were not to come upon them. 


. 5. Ex φυλῆς Ἰούδα δώδεκα χιλιάδες εσφραγισμένοι; 
ἐκ φυλῆς Ῥουβὴν δώδεκα χιλιάδες, ἐκ φυλῆς Γὰδ δώδεκα 
γιλιάδες. 


5. Of the tribe of Juda, twelve thousand sealed. Of the tribe of Reuben, 
twelve thousand sealed. Of the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand sealed. 

6. Ἔκ φυλῆς ᾿Ασὴρ δώδεκα χιλιάδες, ἐκ φυλῆς Νεφθαλεὶμ 
δώδεκα χιλιάδες, ἐκ φυλῆς Μανασσὴ δώδεκα χιλιάδες. 

6. Of the tribe of Asser, twelve thousand sealed. Of the tribe of 
Nephthali, twelve thousand sealed. Of the tribe of Manasses, twelve 
thousand sealed. 

7, Ἔκ φυλῆς Συμεὼν δώδεκα χιλιάδες, ἐκ φυλῆς Λευεὶ 
δώδεκα χιλιάδες, ἐκ φυλῆς Ἰσσαχὰρ δώδεκα χιλίαδες. 


7. Of the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand sealed. Of the tribe of Levi, 
twelve thousand sealed. Of the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand sealed. 


THE JEWISH THEME 219 


8. Ἐκ φυλῆς Ζαβουλὼν δώδεκα χιλιάδες, ἐκ φυλῆς 
Ἰωσὴφ δώδεκα χιλιάδες, ἐκ φυλῆς Βενιαμεὶν δώδεκα χιλιάδες, 
ἐσφραγισμένοι. 


8. Of the tribe of Zabulon, twelve thousand sealed. Of the tribe οὗ 
Joseph, twelve thousand sealed, Of the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand 
sealed. 


The tribe of Dan is omitted and that of Joseph duplicated by 
his own name and that of his son Manasses. The Seer placed 
his own tribe Zabulon, with Joseph and Benjamin, at the last. 
It may be that before Jerusalem fell, in the year 70, about 
12,000 of each tribe had become converted to Christianity, and 
sealed by the seal of baptism. The Apostles laboured for twelve 
years in Jerusalem with great success (see Acts ii. 41, iv. 4, 
and vi. 7). And when they went forth into the cities of the 
Gentiles, they found the Brethren everywhere, and made their 
first appeal to them. When these Hebrew Christians were 
sealed from harm, the way was cleared for vengeance upon the 
impenitent tribes of Israel. 

But first the martyrs appear before the throne of God, and 
join with the angels and saints in giving glory to God. 


9: Μετὰ ταῦτα εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ὄχλος πολὺς, ὃν ἀριθμῆσαι 
αὐτὸν οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο, ἐκ παντὸς ἔθνους καὶ φυλῶν καὶ λαῶν 
καὶ γλωσσῶν, ἑστῶτες ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου καὶ ἐνώπιον τοῦ 
> 4 , A , ἈΝ 4 9 Ὁ“ 
ἀρνίου, περιβεβλημένους στολὰς λευκάς, καὶ φοίνικες ἐν ταῖς 
χερσὶν αὐτῶν. 


9. After that I saw a great multitude which no man could number, of all 
nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and 
in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. 


Mera ταῦτα, “after these things,” as at verse 1, separates this 
vision from the sealing of the tribes, and takes us back again to the 
ten persecutions, to those who feared “ the wrath of the Lamb.” 
The martyrs cried out, ‘‘ How long, O Lord ?” They were told 
to wait till the martyrs’ roll was complete. The symbolism of 
persecution in the sixth seal followed (R. vi. 10, 12-16). This 
vision now shows the effect of persecution, the completion of the 
martyrs’ roll. A great multitude which no man could number 
of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues appear before 
the throne, clothed in white robes, with palm-branches in their 
hands. These are the martyrs. It is important that we should 
make no mistake about them. Accordingly, one of the Ancients 
explains that they are martyrs (R. vii. 14). The Seer does not 


220 THE REVELATION 


give the number on the martyrs’ roll, because they are a count- 
less multitude. Every tribe—oidrov—of Israel and of all nations 
and peoples and tongues, in the Roman Empire, showing the 
wide extent and severity of the ten persecutions. They wear 
“ στολὰς λευκάς ”—‘‘ white robes ”—such as were conferred upon 
the martyrs at R. vi. 10, as their distinctive garb. ‘“ White 
robes” occurs only at R. vi. 10, vil. 9, 14, and xxii. 14. They 
also have palms in their hands, the emblem of victory. The 
victors in the athletic contests of Greece and Rome carried 
palms as a sign of victory. Representations of palms are found 
scratched on the walls of the Catacombs. The martyrs’ roll 
forms a great addition to the vision of the throne of God. It is 
a new feature. The martyrs were not seen when the vision of 
the throne first appeared. What has happened in the interval 
to cause this change? Only the loosing of the sixth seal, con- 
taining the ten persecutions. 


10. Kai κράζουσιν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ, λέγοντες, Ἢ σωτηρία 
τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν τῷ καθημένῳ ἐπὶ τῷ θρόνῳ καὶ τῷ ἀρνίῳ. 


το. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, who 
sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb. 


And the martyrs loudly glorify God and the Lamb, with the 
expression, ‘H σωτηρία, translated “ Salvation.” The same word 
occurs again at R. xii. 10, in an acclamation of praise to God 
and His Christ, ‘‘ because the accuser of our brethren is cast 
forth.” And again at R. xix. I, because ‘he hath judged the 
great harlot”... “and revenged the blood of his servants.” In 
the N.T. the expression Σωτήρ, “ Saviour,” is given to both God 
and to Christ, as in r Tim. i. and Tit. i. 4. It connotes in this 
Book safety and deliverance, through God and the Lamb. The 
persecuted Christians of R. vi. 16 exclaimed, “ Hide us from 
the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the 
wrath of the Lamb.’’ Now that they have gained the palm of 
victory, they attribute their salvation “to our God Who sitteth 
upon the throne, and to the Lamb.” This helps to identify 
them as the martyrs of R. vi. 16. 


11. Kat πάντες οἱ ἄγγελοι ἱστήκεισαν κύκλῳ τοῦ θρόνου 
καὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ τῶν τεσσάρων ζῴων, καὶ ἔπεσαν 
ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου ἐπὶ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν καὶ προσεκύ- 
νῆσαν τῷ Θεῷ. 

11. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and the ancients and 


the four living creatures, and they fell down before the throne upon their 
faces, and adored God. 


THE JEWISH THEME 221 
12. Aéyovres, ᾿Αμήν, ἡ εὐλογία καὶ ἡ δόξα καὶ ἡ σοφία 


ε 


καὶ ῆ εὐχαριστία καὶ n τιμὴ καὶ n δύναμις καὶ ἡ ἰσχὺς τῷ 
Θεῷ ἡμῶν εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, ἀμήν. 


12. Saying, Amen, Benediction, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, ᾿ 
and honour, and power, and strength to our God, for ever and ever, amen. 


In the vision of the throne of God (Chapter V.) the Lamb 
was found “ worthy to take the book and open the seals thereof, 
because thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God in thy 
blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” 
(ΕΚ. v. 9). The angels, the living creatures and the ancients, 
praised the Lamb with sevenfold praises (R. v. 12). Now, when 
the martyrs of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues 
appear before the throne and salute God and the Lamb, they 
fall down and adore God and salute Him with a similar 
doxology of sevenfold praise. It is not exactly the same, 
πλοῦτος, “riches,” is ascribed to the Lamb, and εὐχαριστία, 
“‘ thanksgiving,” to God (see R. v. 12, 13, notes). 


123. Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη εἷς ἐκ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων λέγων μοι, 
Οὗτοι ot περιβεβλημένοι τὰς στολὰς τάς λευκὰς τίνες εἰσὶν 
καὶ πόθεν ἦλθον. 


13. And one of the ancients answered and said to me, Who are these that 
are clothed in white robes, and whence are they come? © 


14. Kat εἴρηκα αὐτῶ, Κύριέ μου, σὺ οἶδας, καὶ εἶπέν pot, 
> A an 
Οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ ἐρχόμενοι ἐκ τῆς θλίψεως τῆς μεγάλης, καὶ 
ἔπλυναν τὰς στολὰς αὐτῶν καὶ ἐλεύκαναν αὐτὰς ἐν τῷ αἵματι 
τοῦ ἀρνίου. 
14. And I said to him, My lord, thou knowest, And he said to me, These 


are they who have come out of great tribulation, and have washed their 
robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 


It is evidently important that we should make no mistake as 
to the identity of the innumerable host who appeared before 
the throne, clothed in “ white robes.” One of the Ancients 
explains. And he answered and said, “ These are they who 
are come out of ‘ great tribulations,’”’ θλίψεως μεγάλης. The 
same expression, Oris, is used at R. ii. 10, where the oe 
of Smyrna, representing the martyrs’ age of the Church, 
promised ten persecutions, “‘and you shall have tribulation ‘hin 
days.” The accuracy of wording in the Apocalypse is very 
τὸ κίε, “Απά have washed their robes.” Again, “ τὰς στολὰς,᾽ 


222 THE REVELATION 


to correspond with the robes of the martyrs at R. vi. 11, and_ 
R. vii. 9. The metaphor of making robes white in the blood of 

the Lamb is significant of the ancient ritual in which cleansing 

by blood was practised. The efficacy of martyrdom in cleansing 

is attributed to the death of our Saviour on the cross (see R. i. 5, 

and v. g). “Blessed are they who wash their robes in the 
blood of the Lamb” (R. xxii. 14). “ And they overcame him 

by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, 

and they loved not their lives unto death” (R. xii. 11). 


‘ ee 4 > ΦΥ͂ Ω A / “ A Ν 
15. Διὰ τοῦτό εἰσιν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ 
ἴω Ν : A rn Ν 
λατρεύουσιν αὐτῷ ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς ἐν τῷ ναῷ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὃ 
καθήμενος ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου σκηνώσει ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς. 


15. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and 
night in his temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell over them. 


These are the rewards of heaven. They are put figuratively, 
as we are incapable of understanding heaven. The martyrs 
shall be before the throne of God and serve him day and night ; 
meaning ceaselessly. ‘‘ And night shall be no more” (R. xxii. 
5). ‘‘And they shall see his face” (R. xxii. 4). “In his temple.” 
‘‘And I saw no temple in it. For the Lord God Almighty is 
the temple thereof and the Lamb” (R. xxi. 22). ‘‘ Behold the 
tabernacle of God with men and he will dwell with them” 
(R. xxi. 3). These quotations are from the picture of heaven at 
the end of Revelation. They qualify the symbolism employed 
above as purely figurative. Τῷ va® was the sanctuary, or inner 
temple, to which only priests were admitted (see R. ili. 12, xi. I, 
2, 19, Xiv. 15; 17). 


16. Οὐ πεινάσουσιν ἔτι οὐδὲ διψήσουσιν ἔτι, οὐδὲ μὴ 
πέσῃ ἐπ᾽ αὐτοὺς ὁ ἤλϊος οὐδὲ πᾶν καῦμα. 
16. They shall not hunger or thirst any more, neither shall the sun fall on 
them, nor any heat. 


Isaias says, ‘‘ They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall 
the heat nor the sun strike them” (xlix. 10). This with 
reference to the salvation of the Gentiles. Hunger and thirst 
and scorching heat are inflictions. For the latter see R. xvi.g. 
But in heaven “there shall be no sorrow, for the former things 
are passed away” (R. xxi. 4). And the tree of life is there, 
“bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruits every month” 
(R. xxii. 2), and ‘‘the water of life” (R. xxii. 1). See also 
Jhn. iv. 14 and vi. 35. The fulfilment of prophecies is in view. 


THE JEWISH THEME 223 


4 5 lA X\ oc% 4 A ’ὔ “ 

17. Ὅτι το ἀρνίον τὸ ἀνὰ μέσον Tov θρόνου ποιμανεῖ 

αὐτοὺς, καὶ ὁδηγήσει αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ ζωῆς πηγὰς ὑδάτων, καὶ 
ἐξαλείψει ὁ Θεὸς πᾶν δάκρυον ἐκ τῶν ὀφθαλμων αὐτῶν. 


17. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall rule ἔπη}, απ ἢ 
shall lead them to the fountains of the waters of life, and God shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes. 


Isaias says in the same verse, quoted above, (He) “ shall be 
their shepherd and at the fountains of waters he shall give them 
to drink” (xlix. 10). In the description of the New Jerusalem 
we are told, “Τὸ him that thirsteth I will give of the fountains 
of water of life gratis” (R. xxi. 6), also, ‘and God shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes” (R. xxi. 4). Isaias says, “ and 
the Lord God shall wipe away tears from every face” (xxv. 8). 
There is a full symbolism of the joys of heaven in the final 
chapters of Revelation, see R. xxi. and xxii., with which these 
passages are connected, in some cases word for word, ¢.g., 
viii. 17 with xxi. 4, clearly proving the homogeneity of the Book. 


CHAPTER VIII 


I. Καὶ ὅταν ἤνοιξεν τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν ἑβδόμην, ἐγένετο 
σιγὴ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ὡς ἡμίωρον. 


1. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven 
as it were for half an hour. 


The interlude is over. The martyrs have carried their plaint 
from “ under the altar” up to the throne, reinforced by their 
completed roll. Hebrew Christians are protected by the mark 
of baptism. Allis ready for punishing the persecutors of the 
Church. The seventh and last seal has just been opened. The 
whole court of heaven expects that it will reveal the fulfilment 
of prophecies, the rupture of the covenant between Godand His 
chosen people. No one knew what was coming. Only the 
Lamb was worthy to open the seal (R. ν. 3). But the prophets 
and the Apostles, and the saints of heaven, who were, in the 
year 67, overwhelmingly children of Israel, expected the revela- 
tion of the day of the wrath of God on Jerusalem. The Seer 
employs an intensely dramatic figure to show the interest aroused 
in the courts of heaven. ‘“ There was silence in heaven as it were 
for half an hour.” So Virgil, Conticuere omnes intentique ora 
tenebant (Eneid, B. ii.), where Aineas relates the Siege of Troy. 

The silence fell “when he had opened the seal.” The 


224 THE REVELATION 


momentous events to be revealed are ushered in by ceremonial. 
preparations which indicate the gravity of the cause, and pro- 
duce this solemn hush. 


2. Kat εἶδον τοὺς ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλους ot ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ 
ἑστήκασιν, καὶ ἐδόθησαν αὐτοῖς ἑπτὰ σάλπιγγες. 


2. And I saw seven angels carr in the presence of God, and to them 
were given seven trumpets. 


The vision discloses seven angels. The number seven is the 
perfect number. Employed here it means that, in the series of 
actions which are coming into view, all the angels needed to 
perform those actions stand ready before the throne. The 
vision of the throne of God is still in view. 

“To them were given seven trumpets.” The voice of the 
trumpet sounded long and loud, and was heard by the people of 
Israel, when God gave them the ten commandments (Exod. 
xix. 19). Trumpets are appropriately introduced here to herald 
the punishment of the Jews for failing to observe those 
commandments (see Joel li. I; Osee viii. 1). Jericho, in the 
mystical sense, signified iniquity. The fall of Jericho is put 
symbolically for the fall of Jerusalem. Josue relates that seven 
priests with seven trumpets went round about the city, and on 
the seventh day the walls of the city fell, and all that were in 
it, men and women, young and old, were slain with the edge of 
the sword (Jos. vi. 13-21). Trumpets were used in warfare by 
the Jews, and by the Romans. Every manceuvre of the Roman 
army, when S. John wrote the Apocalypse, was performed at the 
sound of a trumpet. Trumpets indicate the action of the red 
horse of war (R. vi. 4). 


3. Καὶ ἄλλος ἄγγελος ἦλθεν καὶ ἐστάθη ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιασ- 
τηρίου ἔ ov λιβανωτὸν χρυσοῦν, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ θυμιάματα 
πολλά, ἵνα δώσει ταῖς προσευχαῖς τῶν ἁγίων πάντων ἃ ἐπὶ τὸ 
θυσιαστήριον τὸ χρυσοῦν τὸ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου. 


3. And another angel came and stood before the altar, having a golden 
censer, and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of 
the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of 
God. 


Another angel, not one of the angels of vengeance but an 
intercessory angel, who should offer up the prayers of the saints, 
stood before the golden altar. Not the altar of burnt offering 


THE JEWISH THEME 225 


on which the victims were slain (R. vi. 9), but the altar of 
incense. He hada goldencenser. And there was given to him 
much incense that he should offer up the prayers of the saints 
on the golden altar. In the vision of the throne of God we 
saw the four living creatures and the four-and-twenty ancients, 
having vials full of odours which are the prayers of the saints 
_(R. ν. 8). Incense is the symbol of acceptable prayer. “ Let 
my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight” (Ps. cxl. 2). 
Incense was offered up by the high priests of the Temple in 


censers (Lev. xvi. 12). ‘ 


A > tA ε Ν “ ͵ὔ aA an 
4. Kat ἀνέβη 6 καπνὸς τῶν θυμιαμάτων ταῖς προσευχαῖς 
τῶν ἁγίων ἐκ χειρὸς τοῦ ἀγγέλου ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ. 


4. And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up 
before God, from the hand of the angel. 


This means that God was pleased and heard this prayer. It 
was acceptable prayer. We are not told the nature of the 
prayer offered up, but there has been only one prayer so far 
mentioned, and that is the martyrs’ prayer, “ How long O 
Lord.” That prayer was not accepted at the time, as the martyrs’ 
roll was incomplete. Reinforced now by the prayers of all the 
saints, “ τῶν ἁγίων πάντων, seen at R. vii. 9 it is accepted. 
The result shows this prayer to have been the martyrs’ cry for 
vengeance. “ Will not God,” said our Saviour, “revenge his 
Elect, who cry to him day and night, and will he have patience 
in theirregard. I sayto you that he will quickly revenge them” 
(Luke xvii. 7-8). 


5: Καὶ εἴληφεν 6 ἄγγελος τὸν λιβανωτόν, καὶ ἐγέμισεν 
αὐτὸν ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου καὶ ἔβαλεν εἰς τὴν 
γῆν, καὶ ἐγένοντο βρονταὶ καὶ φοναὶ καὶ ἀστραπαὶ καὶ 

’ 
σεισμός. 


5, And the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, 
and cast it on the earth, and there were thunders and voices and lightnings 
and a great earthquake. 


The angel filled his censer’with fire, instead of incense, and 
casts it down on the earth, τὴν γῆν. This action recalls that 
of the angel in Ezechiel who took fire from under the throne, 
and cast it upon Jerusalem as a symbol of its ruin (Ezech. x. 2). 
Fire is a symbol of suffering. “1 am come to cast fire on the 
earth” (Luke xii. 49). Thundering and voices and lightnings 


15 


226 THE REVELATION 


indicate the power and the wrath of God in action. The earth- 
quake signifies the fall of Jerusalem (R. xi. 13). Before we go 
on, let us note that we have had the Temple of Jerusalem, its 
sanctuary, its altars, and its ritual, placed before us, in living 
symbols of things Divine. That is very strong proof that this 
Book was written during the existence of the Temple. It 
indicates common knowledge of the ritual of the Temple on the 
part of the readers of the Book, and places its date before the 


year 70. 


6 Ν ε ε Ν 3 εν» Ν ε Ν ’ 

. Καὶ οἱ ἑπτὰ ἄγγελοι οἱ ἔχοντες τὰς ἑπτὰ σάλπιγγας 
. 9 

ἡτοίμασαν αὑτοὺς ἵνα σαλπίσωσιν. 


6. And the seven angels, who had the seven trumpets, prepared them- 
selves to sound the trumpet. 


4%) & “ > ’ὔ Ν 5 ’ 4 Ν A 
7: Kat ὁ πρῶτος ἐσάλπισεν, καὶ ἐγένετο χάλαζα Kal πῦρ 
κ᾿ A 
μεμιγμένα ἐν αἵματι, καὶ ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν γῆν, καὶ τὸ τρίτον 
τῆς γῆς κατεκάη, καὶ τὸ τρίτον τῶν δένδρων κατεκάη, καὶ 
πᾶς χόρτος χλωρὸς κατεκάη. 


7. And the first angel sounded the trumpet, and there was made hail and 
fire, mingled with blood, and it was cast on the earth, and the third part of 
the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all 
green grass was burnt up. 


Vengeance begins. At the sound of the first trumpet the red 
horse of war is loosed upon the Jews. “Τῆς γῆς ᾽᾿ stands for the 
inhabitants of the earth, who are of the earth, earthy, viz., the 
enemies of God’s Church. The third part of the earth, and of 
the trees (extended later to the sea, the ships, the rivers, the 
sun, the moon, and the stars) follows the prophecy of Ezechiel 
(v. 2-12). Ezechiel predicted as the punishment of the Jews, 
that a third part should burn with fire in the midst of the city, a 
third part be cut in pieces with the knife, all round about, a third 
part die with pestilence, and be consumed with famine, and a 
third part scattered. ‘A third part” is symbolical. Here it 
means a great part. Its general historical accuracy will be 
admitted. 

In this vision hail, fire and blood are mingled together, join- 
ing cause and effect. The mention of blood indicates warfare. 
Josephus has left us a thrilling account of the Jewish war. He 
was present at most of its operations, first as a Jewish general, 
afterwards asa prisoner of war in the Roman camp. He relates 
that from the beginning of the war, the Romans, day and night, 
continued burning cities in the plain. ‘So that Galilee was all 


_ THE JEWISH THEME 227 


over filled with fire and blood ” (“ Wars,” B. III. iv. τ). Next 
Vespasian came to Gadara and “slew all the youth, having no 
mercy on any age whatsoever. ... He also set fire not only to 
the city itself but to all the villas and small cities that were | 
round about it.” Then he went to Jotapata “and set the 
engines for throwing stones and darts round about the city.... 
And stones of the weight of a talent were thrown by the 
engines . . . together with fire and a vast multitude of arrows”’ 
(“ Wars” III. vii. 1-9). The weight of a Jewish talent was about 
124 lbs. The symbols of the Seer and the descriptions of 
an eye-witness closely agree. So the third part of the Jewish 
earth was burnt, literally (see Historic Notes). And the third 
part of the trees, i.c., the mighty men of Judza, and all green 
grass, the ignorant, poor, and lowly, the growing youth of the 
nation, were burnt and destroyed by the hail of rocks and fiery 
darts which overwhelmed'the Jews. The prophet Isaias uses 
the symbolism of grass in like manner. “ Indeed the people is 
grass’ (xl. 7). See τ Peter i. 24. 


ὃ. Kat 6 δεύτερος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν, Kal ὡς ὄρος μέγα 
πυρὶ καιόμενον ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ ἐγένετο τὸ 
τρίτον τῆς θαλάσσης αἷμα. 


8. And the second angel sounded the trumpet, and as it were a great 


mountain, burning with fire, was cast into the sea, and the third part of the 
sea became blood. 


“As it were a great mountain ᾿᾿---ὡς ὄρος pwéya—means that 
it was not really a great mountain, but that the expression is 
used symbolically for a great power. Daniel foretold the great- 
ness of Nebuchadnezzar by saying that his kingdom would 
become a great mountain (ii. 35; see Jer. li. 25). Mountains 
are put for Churches at R. vi. 14, (where see notes) and for 
Roman powers at R. xvi. 20, and for the Cesars at R. xvii. 9, 
(where see notes). Ezechiel addresses the Princes of Israel as 
“Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God” 
(vi. 3). With history to guide us we may take the great 
mountain as the army of Vespasian, which, burning with the 
zeal of destruction, fell upon the Jewish people and slaughtered 
a third part of them. 

The sea is a common figure of the mass of humanity and is 
used as such in this Book (see R. vii. 3, xii. 18, xiii. 1, xvi. 3, 
notes). In this verse the sea represents the mass of the Jews. 


And a third part became blood, indicates death by violence— 
bloodshed. 


228 THE REVELATION 


9: Kai ἀπέθανεν τὸ τρίτον τῶν κτισμάτων τῶν ἐν TH 
θαλάσσῃ. τα ἔχοντα ψυχάς, καὶ τὸ τρίτον τῶν πλοίων 
διεφθάρησαν. 


9. And the third part of the creatures died, which had life in the sea, and 
the third part of the ships was destroyed. 


The introduction of ships in connection with sea shows that 
the real sea is now meant, and that the maritime Jews would 
share the same fate as their inland brethren. One or two 
illustrations of this may be taken from Josephus. During the 
war the Jews of a seafaring type repaired to the city of Joppa 
and made it the headquarters of their ships. Vespasian sent a 
part of his army to take Joppa, seeing which the inhabitants 


fled to their ships. — 


‘‘Now as these people of Joppa were floating about in the sea, in 
the morning there fell a violent wind upon them; it is called by 
those that sail there ‘the black north wind,’ and then dashed their 
ships one against another, and dashed some against the rocks, and 
carried many of them by force, while they strove against the opposite 
waves, into the main sea; for the shore was so rocky, and had so 
many of the enemy upon it, that they were afraid to come to land; 
nay, the waves rose so very high that they drowned them; nor was 
there any place whither they could fly, nor any way to save them- 
selves; while they were thrust out of the sea, by the violence of the. 
wind, if they stayed where they were, and out of the city by the 
violence of the Romans; and much lamentation there was when the 
ships were dashed one against another, and a terrible noise when 
they were broken to pieces; and some of the multitude that were 
in them were covered with the waves, and so perished, and a great 
many were embarrassed with shipwrecks ; but some of them thought 
that to die by their own swords was lighter than by the sea, and so 
they killed themselves before they were drowned! although the 
greatest part of them were carried by the waves and dashed to pieces 
against the abrupt parts of the rocks, insomuch that the sea 
was bloody a long way, and the maritime parts were full of dead 
bodies; for the Romans came upon those that were carried to the 
shore, and destroyed them ; and the number of the bodies that were 
thus thrown out of the sea was 4,200” (“ Wars,” III. ix.). 


So much for the Mediterranean Sea. The fisher folk and 
sailors of the inland seas fared no better. Josephus relates how 
Vespasian launched ships on the Lake of Genesareth, in 
pursuit of the Jewish fleet. 

“ As for those that endeavoured to come to an actual fight, the 


Romans ran many of them through with their long poles. Some- 
times the Romans leaped into their ships, with swords in their hands, 


THE JEWISH THEME 229 


and slew them; but when some of them met the vessels, the 
Romans caught them by the middle, and destroyed at once their 
ships and themselves who were taken in them. And for such as 
were drowning in the sea, if they lifted their heads up above the 
water they were either killed by the darts or caught by the vessels; _ 
but if, in the desperate case they were in, they attempted to swim to 
their enemies, the Romans cut off either their heads or their hands: 
and indeed they were destroyed after various manners everywhere, 
till the rest, being put to flight, were forced to get upon the land, 
while the vessels encompassed them about (on the sea); but as 
many of these were repulsed when they were getting ashore as were 
killed by the darts upon the lake; and the Romans leaped out of 
their vessels, and destroyed a great many more upon the land; one 
might then see the lake all bloody, and full of dead bodies, for not 
one of them escaped. ... The number of the slain, including those 
that were killed in the city [Taricheze] before, was 6,500” 
(« Wars,” ITI., x.). 


. 4 4 > , \ »¥» > Lo 

10. Kat o τρίτος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν, καὶ ἐπέσεν ἐκ TOV 

οὐρανοῦ ἀστὴρ μέγας καιόμενος. ὡς λαμπάς, καὶ ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ 
τὸ τρίτον τῶν ποταμῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων. 


το. And the third angel sounded the trumpet, and a great star fell from 
heaven, burning as it were a torch, and it fell on the third part of the rivers, 
and upon the fountains of waters. 


We have had stars at R. i. 16, 20, where they are explained 
to be the Angels of the Churches. In the symbolism of the ten 
persecutions stars are put for great Churchmen (R. vi. 13). In 
the O.T. stars are symbols of potentates (Dan. viii. ro, xii. 3). 

At the sound of the third trumpet a great star, or Prince, fell 
from heaven, or was heaven sent. Burning, “as it were a torch.” 
* As it were ” indicates a symbolic torch. And it fell upon the 
third part of the rivers and the fountain of waters. This is 
figurative language. As the sea represents the mass of humanity, 
so the rivers and springs which supply the sea are put for 
women and children who supply the sea of life. Waters in this 
Book are put for the living people (see R. i. 15, xvi. 5). And, 
“The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are 
peoples and nations and tongues” (R. xvii. 15). We must bear 
in mind the original metaphor, “ And the angel took the censer 
and filled it with the fire of the altar and cast it on the earth”’ 
(R. vill. 5). To keep to the metaphor the Seer describes the 
burning of the earth, the trees, the green grass, and the sea. 
Now we have the rivers and springs to complete the tale of 
destruction of the Jewish people. Josephus in his book on 
“The Wars of the Jews” shows that in this last war women 
and children were slain in great numbers and without mercy. 


230 THE REVELATION 


Fire is looked upon in this Book as a symbol of God’s 
punishment, not necessarily meaning fire (see R. xi. 5, xiv. 18, 
Xx. g, notes). In nature fire avoids water, but if fire represents 
punishments, and water the inhabitants of the earth, τῆς γῆς, 
the attack of fire on water is explained. 

In the light of history we may take Titus, who completed the 
destruction of Jerusalem and its people, as the great star, heaven 
sent. Historians tell us that Titus was one or the best of the 
Roman Emperors. He was singularly imbued with the idea of 
his Divine mission in overthrowing the Jewish power (see 
Josephus “ Wars,” VI. i. 5, and ix. 1). 

We shall see, in the next verse, that the great star, “ burning 
as it were a torch,” that is, with the ardour of victory, made the 
waters bitter. 


II. Kai «τὸ ,ὄνομα τοῦ ἀστέρος λέγεται ὁ λψινθος, καὶ 
ἐγένετο τὸ τρίτον τῶν ὑδάτων εἰς ἄψινθον, καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν 
ἀνθρώπων ἀπέθανον ἐκ τῶν ὑδάτων, ὅτι ἐπικράνθησαν. 


11. And the name of the star is called Wormwood ; and the third part 
of the waters became wormwood ; and many men died of the waters, 
because they were made bitter. 


** And the name of the star is called Wormwood.” In these 
words the Seer throws light upon the whole series of events. 
He refers to the O.T. as a key to this symbolism. The prophet 
Jeremias foretold “ wormwood.” ‘ Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 
the God of Israel, Behold I will feed this people with worm- 
wood and give them water of gall to drink. And I will scatter 
them among the nations, which they and their fathers have not 
known, and I will send the sword after them till they be con- 
sumed” (Jer. ix. 15 f.). The Seer dare not mention by name 
the Roman legions and their generals. He indicates ἀν 
using the expression, “as it were a great mountain,” and “ 
great star, as it were a torch.” In common Greek usage ἐφοθᾷ, 

**wormwood,” is feminine, but here it is rendered ὁ ἄψινθος, 
masculine, to correspond with the “ great star’’ Titus. 

“And the third part of the waters became wormwood, and 
many men died of the waters.” The prophet Jeremias says 
again, “They are all become unto me as Sodom, and the 
inhabitants thereof as Gomorrha. Therefore, thus saith the 
Lord of hosts to the prophets, Behold I will feed them with 
wormwood and will give them gall to drink, for from the 
prophets of Jerusalem corruption is gone forth into all the 
land” (Jer. xxiii. 14,15). See Lam. iii. 15-19. The fulfilment 
of prophecies is in view. 


THE JEWISH THEME 231 


12. Καὶ ὁ τέταρτος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν, Kal ἐπλήγη τὸ 
τρίτον τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ τὸ τρίτον τῆς σελήνης καὶ τὸ τρίτον τῶν 
ἀστέρων, ἵνα σκοτισθῇ τὸ τρίτον αὐτῶν καὶ ἡ ἡμέρα μὴ 
φάνῃ τὸ τρίτον αὐτῆς. καὶ ἡ νὺξ ὁμοίως. 

12. And the fourth angel sounded the trumpet, and the third part of the 
sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the 


stars, so that the third part of them was darkened, and a third part of the 
day shined not, and the night in like manner. 


The metaphor of the Jewish earth suffering is continued. 
Its light, derived from the sun, moon, and stars, is cut off, as 
to one-third of its intensity, both day and night. The prophet 
Amos foretold the sufferings of Israel in similar words: “ And 
it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that the 
sun shall go down at mid-day, and I will make the earth dark 
in day of light” (viii. 9). The prophet Isaias, foretelling the 
destruction of Babylon, predicts that her sun, moon, and stars 
shall be darkened, using these symbols in a political sense 
(xiil. 10). 

We have had the symbolism of the eclipse of the sun, and of 
the moon becoming as blood, at R. vi. 12, where it is explained 
as referring to the eclipse of the light of the Church, and of 
Christian bloodshed during persecution. When we come to 
the vials of God’s wrath, poured out upon Rome, we will find 
similar symbolism of the sea, the rivers and fountains of water, 
and of darkness, used in the same sense. They are subsidiary 
to the horses of R. vi. 4, 5, 8. 

Taken literally, these things never happened. But they 
symbolise events that did happen at the time of the Jewish 
catastrophe. According to Josephus, one John of Gischala, 
with his followers, made himself master of the Temple of 
Jerusalem during the war, and from thence carried fire and 
sword into the city. He turned the Temple into a sink of 
iniquity, deposed the high priests and appointed tools of his 
own in their place. He abolished prayer and sacrifice. He 
put to death all those who were conspicuous for wisdom and 
piety, even the prophets of the Lord (“ Wars,” IV. 3). But the 
Temple was the central light of the Jewish people; the high 
priests of the Temple were its stars; and the pious God-fearing 
Jews, reflecting the light of the Temple, formed the moon of 


the Jewish Church. All the lights were darkened during the 


war. At the close of the siege its lights were extinguished. 


232 THE REVELATION 


13. Καὶ εἶδον, και ἤκουσα ἑνὸς ἀετοῦ πετομένου ἐν με- 
σουρανήματι λέγοντος φονῆ μεγάλῃ, Οὐαὶ οὐαὶ οὐαὶ τοὺς 
κατοικοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐκ τῶν λοιπῶν φωνῶν τῆς σάλ- 
πιγγος τῶν τριῶν ἀγγέλων τῶν μελλόντων σαλπίζειν. 


13. And I beheld and heard the voice of one eagle flying through the 
midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabi- 
tants of the earth, by reason of the rest of the voices of the three angels, 
who are yet to sound the trumpet. 


The eagle symbolises a prophet who gives warning of the three 
coming woe trumpets. The eagle is the symbol of S. John. It 
would seem that the eagle voice is that of S. John himself, who 
proclaimed the coming woes in this Apocalypse. At R. iv. 7 
the fourth living creature, the emblem of S. John, is dis- 
tinguished as an “ eagle flying.’”’ Thesymbols of the evangelists 
were known to S. John, whose Revelation displays complete 
knowledge of future events. 

The eagle flies through the meridian—pecovpayypati—or 
highest point of the heaven, and from thence proclaims in a 
loud voice—govh peydAy—the woes of Jerusalem. Τοὺς κατοι- 
κοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς yjs—the inhabitants of the earth—is an expres- 
sion applied to both Jewish and Roman enemies of the Church. 
We shall find both involved in the next chapter. 


CHAPTER IX 


Ν ε , 3, 3 , Ν εὰ 3 ’ 
Ι. Καὶ ὁ πέμπτος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν, καὶ εἶδον ἀστέρα 
ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πεπτωκότα εἰς τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ἡ 
κλεὶς τοῦ φρέατος τῆς ἀβύσσου. 


1. And the fifth angel sounded the trumpet, and I saw a star fall from 
heaven upon the earth, and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. 


The Seer saw a star—rerrwxdra—“ fallen”’ upon the earth. 
We have had stars as princes of the Church (R. i. 20), as 
princes of the world (R. viii. 10), and we shall see them as 
angels of heaven (R. xii. 4). A fallen star is one which has 
transgressed and lost its high position (see R. vi. 13). The 
ΠΣ Isaias throws light on this passage. “ How art thou 
allen from heaven, O Lucifer. . . how art thou fallen to the 
earth . . . and thou saidst in thy heart .. . I will exalt my 
throne above the stars of God... but yet thou shalt be brought 
down to hell, into the depth of the pit ”’ (xiv. 12-15). 


THE JEWISH THEME 233 


Τῆς a8tvecov—* the bottomless pit’”’—is the Hades of the 
Ancients, a prison, or place of detention. The Beast of the 
Apocalypse comes from it at R. xi. 7, and xvii. 8. Satan is 
shut up in it and loosed out of it, at R. xx. 3. 

We may take Lucifer to be the fallen star. He leads forth 
an army of “locusts” from the bottomless pit, and we are told 
at R. ix. 11 they had over them a king, the angel of the bottom- 
less pit, whose name is, in Greek, Apollyon, “ the destroyer.” 

“Το him was given the key of the bottomless pit.” The key 
is in the possession of God. ‘“ Behold I am living for ever and 
ever and have the keys of death and hell’? (Hades) (R. i. 18). 
It ‘‘ was given” to him in the sense that he was permitted by 
God to use the key, to carry out the designs of Providence. 


\ 


» A 
2. Kat ἤνοιξεν τὸ φρέαρ τῆς ἀβύσσου, καὶ ἀνέβη καπνὸς 
ἐκ Tov φρέατος ὡς καπνὸς καμίνου μεγάλης, καὶ ἐσκοτισῆη 
"4 la) “ lal 
ὁ ἥλιος Kal ὁ ἀὴρ ἐκ τοῦ καπνοῦ τοῦ φρέατος. 


2. And he opened the bottomless pit, and the smoke of the pit ascended 
as the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened 
with the smoke of the pit. 


(S. = σκοτώθη.) 

Lucifer opened the bottomless pit with the key, and the 
smoke of the pit ascended and darkened the sun and air. 
According to Josephus, with whose O.T. views S. John was in 
sympathy, the bottomless pit was a subterranean region, of per- 
petual darkness, in a part of which was a lake of unquenchable 
fire, the hell of the damned (‘Concerning Hades”). When 
the bottomless pit was opened “the smoke of the pit ascended 
as the smoke of a great furnace,” is realistic. ‘ And the smoke 
of their torments shall ascend up for ever and ever” (R. xiv. II). 

There is a very general opinion amongst the old commen- 
tators that we have here a reference to heresy, especially the 
Arian heresy which denied that Christ was equal to the Father, 
and thereby obscured the light of Christianity. But there is 
no question of Christianity here. The woe trumpets are to 
bring woes, not on the Church, but on itsenemies. The context 
shows that to be the position. Besides there is no evidence 
that this Book deals anywhere with heresy. The messages to 
the Seven Churches are devoted to their interior spiritual con- 
dition. The rest of the Book is taken up with the struggles of 
the Church and the world. Apparently heresiarchs have little 
part in the Revelation of S. John. They are summarily dis- 
missed as “‘liars.”” See R. ii. 2, notes. 


234 THE REVELATION 


3. Καὶ ἐκ τοῦ καπνοῦ ἐξῆλθον ἀκρίδες εἰς THY γῆν, καὶ 
ἐδόθη αὐταῖς ἐξουσία ὡς ἔχουσιν ἐξουσίαν οἱ σκορπίοι 
τῆς γῆς. 

3. And from the smoke of the pit there came out locusts upon the earth, 
and power was given to them as the scorpions of the earth have power. 


We are told, in effect, that for the punishment of the Jews, 
the key of hell was given to Lucifer, and he was allowed, 
metaphorically, to loose hell upon Jerusalem. Locusts are an 
image of numbers in the O.T. ‘The Lord of hosts hath sworn 
by himself, saying, I will fill thee with men as with locusts, and 
they shall lift up a joyous shout against thee” (Jer. li. 14). 
Locusts are harmless to men. So “ power was given to them 
as the scorpions of the earth have power.” They became 
stinging locusts. ‘“ Bring the horse as the stinging locust, 
prepare the nations against her” (Jer. li. 27). In Ezechiel’s 
commission to preach to the children of Israel, we read, “ for 
thou art among unbelievers and destroyers, and thou dwellest 
with scorpions ”’ (ii. 6). The torment of a scorpion’s sting is 
excessive and prolonged local pain, a painful, but rarely fatal, 
form of blood-poisoning. Scorpions were generally believed to 
prey upon each other, as the female scorpion bites to pieces 
and eats the male after the honeymoon. The scorpions who 
were let loose upon Jerusalem were gangs of murderous and 
licentious robbers, one of which was headed by Simon. Josephus 
says that “he was of a barbarous disposition and bore great 
anger to this nation. . . as we may see all the woods behind 
despoiled of their leaves by locusts, . . . so there was nothing 
left behind Simon’s army but a desert (“ Wars,” IV. ix. 7). 


4. Kat ἐρρέθη αὐταῖς ἵνα μὴ ἀδικήσωσι τὸν χόρτον τῆς 
γῆς οὐδὲ πᾶν χλωρὸν οὐδὲ πᾶν δένδρον, εἰ μὴ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους 
οἵτινες οὐκ ἔχουσιν τὴν σφραγῖδα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπὶ τῶν μετώπων 
αὑτῶν. 

4. And it‘was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of 


the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree; but only the men who have 
not the sign of God on their foreheads. 


(S. has ἀδικήσουσιν, and omits the final αὑτῶν.) 

In the midst of the woes of Jerusalem the Seer’s concern for 
his “ children” of the Nazarene Church induces him to comfort 
them again with this assurance. Terrible woes are impending. 
But no Christian, only those who have not the sign of God on 
their foreheads must be hurt. (See R. vii. 3, notes.) 


THE JEWISH THEME 235 


+ Se > a Ψ Sy ’ 3 ’ 5» νυ 
5. Καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς ἵνα μὴ ἀποκτείνωσιν αὐτούς, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα 
βασανισθήσονται μῆνας πέντε, καὶ βασανισμὸς αὐτῶν ὡς 
βασανισμὸς σκορπίου, ὅταν παίσῃ ἄνθρωπον. 


5. And it was given to them that they should not kill them, but that they 
should torment them five months, and their torment was as the torment 
of a scorpion when he striketh a man. 


The hellish locusts, who came out of the pit, were bands of 
robbers under John Gischala and Simon. It was not given to 
them to kill, in the sense of sacking Jerusalem and putting its 
inhabitants to the sword. That was reserved for the Romans. 
But from the vantage ground of the Temple, it was given to 
them, scorpion-like, to torture and destroy their brethren for 
several months. Bacavifew, Dr. Swete points out, is used for 
“torture,” from Thucydides, downwards; and for acute pain in 
the O.T. and N.T. ᾿ 

Josephus relates in Books IV. and V. of his ‘‘ Wars of the 
Jews,” the awful sufferings of the Jews in those days. They 
were far more severely “tortured” by their own “ brethren ” 
than by the Romans. These things must be read in Josephus 
to be understood. The ‘‘ zealots” treated the ordinary in- 
habitants of Jerusalem ‘‘ without mercy and omitted no method 
of torment or barbarity.” “They were inwardly tormented 
without daring to open their lips in groans” (‘* Wars,” V. I). 


Ν > ~ ε ’ > Ψ 4 ε»ν»ν 
6. Καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ζητήσουσιν ot ἄνθρωποι 
τὸν θάνατον καὶ οὐ μὴ εὑρήσουσιν αὐτόν, καὶ ἐπιθυμήσουσιν 
Ν “ 
ἀποθανεῖν καὶ φεύξεται ὁ θάνατος ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν. ? 


6. And in those days meu shall seek death, and shall not find it, and they 
shall desire to die, and death shall fly from them. 


(S. has φεύγει.) 

These words represent a climax of suffering such as has 
seldom existed on earth. The prophet Jeremias predicted this 
thing for the Jewish day of reckoning. ‘And death shall be 
chosen rather than life” (viii. 3). 

Giving an account of the sufferings of the Jews under the 
zealots, Josephus says: 


“Nay, the terror was so very great, that he who survived called 
them that were first dead happy, as being at rest already; as did 
those that were under torture in the prisons. 


236 THE REVELATION 


“ But for the noblemen and the youth, they first caught them, and 
bound them, and shut them up in prison, and put off their slaughters, 
in hopes that some of them would turn over to their party ; but none 
of them would comply with their desires, but all of them preferred 
death before being enrolled among such wicked wretches as acted 
against their own country. But this refusal of theirs brought upon 
them terrible torments, for they were so scourged and tormented 
that their bodies were not able to sustain their torments, till at 
length, and with difficulty, they had the favour to be slain . . . and 
there were 12,000 of the better sort who perished in this manner ” 
(“ Wars,” bk. IV. c. v.). 


Instances of this kind, including wholesale suicides, might be: 
multiplied from the pages of Josephus. 


7. Καὶ τὰ ὁμοιώματα τῶν ἀκρίδων ὅμοια ἵπποις ἡτοι- 
»μμασμένοις εἰς πόλεμον, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν ὡς 
στέφανοι ὅμοιοι χρυσῷ, καὶ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ὡς πρόσωπα 
ἀνθρώπων. 


7. And the shape of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for 
battle, and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces 
as the faces of men. 


The locust army let loose upon Jerusalem was not composed 
exclusively of zealots. It consisted also of Roman soldiers, who 
now come into view. The Seer was obliged to keep the 
dominant power, Rome, out of the Apocalypse. He could not 
therefore introduce Roman legions otherwise than by symbolism. 
The symbolism is from the O.T. The prophet Joel, foretelling 
“the day of the Lord,” wrote of the invaders, ‘‘ The appearance 
of them is as the appearance of horses. . . . They shall leap 
like the noise of chariots. . . . At their presence the people shall 
be in grievous pain. . . . They shall enter into the city... . 
They shall climb up the houses. . . . The sun and moon are 
darkened, the stars have withdrawn their shining”? (ii. 4-10). 
The Idumean zealots were driven out of their own country into 
Jerusalem by the Roman army, hence S. John holds Rome 
accountable for all the woes of the Jews. See “ Historic 
Notes,” pp. 54, 55. 

Locusts ‘‘ like unto horses,” ‘‘ with faces as the faces of men,” 
and “ on their heads, as it were, crowns like gold” (στέφανοι, or 
crowns of victory), indicate an army of horse and foot, wearing 
brazen helmets, burnished like gold. 


THE JEWISH THEME 237 


8. Kai εἶχαν τρίχας ὡς τρίχας γυναικῶν, Kai οἱ ὀδόντες 
αὐτῶν ὡς λεόντων ἦσαν. 


8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the 
teeth of lions. 


Long hair refers to the Roman auxiliaries, whose warriors 
took great pride in their long hair. The majority of our own 
Sepoys in the Indian army, of many different tribes, have long 
hair, like women, neatly coiled up. So have the Chinese and 
other Eastern people. Josephus says that there was a consider- 
able number of auxiliaries, of the Kings of Syria, with the 
Roman army of invasion (“ Wars,” III. 1, 3). 

Teeth as lion’s teeth is a symbol of the ferocity and strength 
of the locust army. This simile is taken from Joel. “Fora 
nation is come up upon my land, strong and without number ; 
his teeth are like the teeth of a lion” (i. 6). The fulfilment 
of prophecies is constantly borne in mind. 


9. Καὶ εἶχον θώρακας ὡς θώρακας σιδηροῦς, καὶ ἡ 
φωνὴ τῶν πτερύγων αὐτῶν ὡς φωνὴ ἀρμάτων ἵππων πολλῶν 
τρεχόντων εἰς πόλεμον. 


9. And they had breastplates as it were breastplates of iron; and the 
sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running 


to battle. 


Breastplates “as it were of iron’’ means that they were not 
iron, but as hard as iron. The Roman legions, horse and foot, 
had breastplates of leather as hard as iron. Syrian war 
chariots, drawn by horses, accompanied the army, and were 
stationed with the cavalry on the wings. ‘“ They shall leap 
like the noise of chariots” (Joel ii. 5). The Seer has repre- 
sented the invading force as a locust army, with faces as the 
faces of men, wearing brazen helmets, with breastplates like 
iron, with teeth as the teeth of lions, with long hair as the 
hair of women, active as horses and accompanied by chariots. 
Indications enough to enable “the brethren” to identify the 
locust army with the army of Vespasian. S. John’s fellow- 
servants, both at Jerusalem and at Rome, were familiar with 
the appearance of Roman soldiers. For many years a Roman 

cohort of occupation was stationed in the fort of Antonia, 
overlooking the Temple. Josephus, who was with the army of 
invasion, says that both horse and foot-soldiers wore helmets 
and breastplates (“‘ Wars,” III. 5). The Seer refers his readers 
to the O.T., especially to Joel, for the application of this vision, 
and we find there prophecies of the fall of Jerusalem. 


238 THE REVELATION 


A » 5 Ν ε ’ ’ Ν 7 5 
10. Καὶ εχουσιν ουρᾶς ομοιᾶς σκορπιοις και κεντρα ἐν © 


A > Ὁ“ > ἴω ε > 4 > “A > “A Ν > 7 
ταῖς οὐραῖς αὐτῶν, ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτῶν ἀδικῆσαι τοὺς avOpa- 
πους μῆνας πέντε. 


το. And they had tails like to scorpions, and stings were in their tails, 
and their power was to hurt men five months, 


If we accept the locusts as representing the army of invasion, 
we must look for the stings in the rear of the army. The 
horrors of war are seen in the track of a conquering army— 
dead and wounded men abandoned to robbers, hyenas, jackals, 
and vultures; burning houses and plundered farms; ruined 
crops and vineyards; famine and pestilence; anarchy and 
disorder. ‘These things lay behind, or in the tail of the army. 
Dr. Swete points out that ‘‘ cévtpov”’ translated “sting” is the 
goad used for oxen”? (of. cit., p. 119). See Acts xxvi. 14. 

Another prominent feature of the “tail” of a Roman army was 
the siege-train, engines for throwing darts, javelins, and rocks. 
Gibbon says of the Roman legions, ‘ The slingers and archers 
skirmished in front; the auxiliaries formed the first line and 
were seconded or sustained by the strength of the legions; the 
cavalry covered the flanks, and the military engines were placed 
in the rear” (D. and F. c. 1.). Josephus relates how these 
engines “ goaded” the besieged Jews during the siege of Titus 
(“‘ Wars,” V. 6, 2). 


» > 3 > “Ἢ 4 Ν + A 
It. “Exovow ἐπ᾿ αὐτῶν βασιλέα τὸν ἄγγελον τῆς 
> , ΕΣ > lal ε - Ν 3 ’ Ν 5 [οἱ 
ἀβύσσου, ὄνομα αὐτῴ Ἑβραϊστὶ, ᾿Αβαδδών, καὶ ἐν τῆ 
“ἂν ¥ , 
Ἑλληνικῇ ὄνομα ἔχει Ἀπολλύων. 


11. And they had over them a King, the angel of the bottomless pit, 
whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apollyon. 


S. John characteristically gives the Hebrew and Greek names 
of Satan. Abaddon is a Hebrew word, signifying “ destruc- 
tion” (Job xxvi. 6; Prov. xv. 11). Apollyon is a Greek word 
having the same meaning. In the opening verse of this chapter 
the key of the bottomless pit was given to a fallen angel; he 
loosed destroying forces upon Judea; he had power over them, 
and his name, “ the Destroyer,” connotes Lucifer. 

In the Vulgate there is, at the end of the above verse, “in 
Latin, exterminans.” This addition of the Latin name for 
‘‘ destroyer ’’ was probably originally a marginal note bya Latin 
copyist. 


Se ae er ee 


THE JEWISH THEME 239 


12. Ἢ οὐαὶ ἡ pia ἀπῆλθεν, ἰδοὺ ἔρκονται ἔτι δύο οὐαὶ 
μετὰ ταῦτα. ν 
12. One woe is past ; and behold there come two more woes hereafter. 


(S. has ἔρχεται.) 

We gather from the context and from the key reference to 
the prophet Joel that the woe, which is now declared to be past, 
referred to the civil war in Jerusalem and to the horrors of the 
Roman invasion. “There come two more woes hereafter” 
indicates further suffering of the same kind. These three woes 
are an echo of Joel’s “Ah, ah, ah (woe, woe, woe), because 
the day of the Lord is at hand” (i. 15). They have an 
epexegetical value upon each other. We assume as a matter 
of exegesis that the first woe refers to Jerusalem. The Seer 
confirms the precision of that view by indicating unmistakably 
that the ‘two more woes” occurin Jerusalem. He refers to the 
Temple of Jerusalem at R. xi. 1, and says of the city in which 
the scene of the woe is laid, ‘‘ Where also their Lord was 
crucified ” (R. xi. 8). The two more woes came hereafter as a 
matter of history. There was a long interval between the 
events just symbolised and the final siege and fall of Jerusalem. 
Dynastic civil wars intervened on the death of Nero and delayed 
the conclusion of the Jewish war. 


¥ ¥ 

13. Καὶ ὁ ἔκτος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν, καὶ ἥκουσα φωνὴν 

μίαν ἐκ τῶν κεράτων τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ χρυσοῦ τοῦ 
ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ. 


13. And the sixth δῆρεὶ ‘sounded the trumpet, and I heard a voice from 
the four horns of the golden altar which is before the eyes of God. 


When the sixth seal was opened, the ten persecutions were 
disclosed as an interlude and after that followed an interval for 
the sealing of converts from Judaism. So, when the sixth 
trumpet is sounded, the chastisement of Rome comes into 
view as an interlude, and there is an interval for preparing for 
the Roman and final revelations. There is similarity of 
design here. It will be noticed that no fresh calamity happens 
to the Jews at the sound of the sixth trumpet. The relation of 
the final Jewish woes is postponed to Chapter XI., “ Behold 
there come two more woes, ‘ hereafter,’ " wera ταῦτα (verse 12) 
marks a complete break in the narrative (see R. iv. I, vii. I 
and 9, where see notes). In translation μετὰ ταῦτα is rendered, 
‘after these things,” “ after this,” and “‘ hereafter.”” The breach 
in the narrative is complete, and calls for a fresh chapter. 


540 THE REVELATION 


The sixth angel gets a new mission; as we shall see in the 
next verse, he is sent to the Euphrates. The command comes 
from the four horns of the golden altar of holocausts, from under 
which the prayer of the martyrs was offered to God, “ How 
long, O Lord.” The altar of holocausts of the Temple had 
horns projecting from the four corners to keep the sacrificial 
victims from falling off. The time has come to show forth 
the punishment of Rome. The Jewish theme is an epopee, 
beginning with the vision of the throne of God and ending with 
the general judgment (R. xi. 18). It requires a vision of 
vengeance on Rome to complete it. 

The altar is represented at R. viii. 3 as being “‘ before the 
throne of God,” not ‘before the eyes of God.” This latter 
expression, used above, 1 is not in the Greek. The Vulgate has 

‘ ante oculos Det.” 


14. Aéyovra, τῷ ἕκτῳ ἀγγέλω, ὁ ἔχων τὴν σάλπιγγα. 
Λῦσον τοὺς τέσσαρας ᾿ἀγγέλους τοὺς δεδεμένους ἐπὶ τῷ 
ποταμῷ τῷ μεγάλῳ Εὐφράτῃ. 


14. Saying to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet, Loose the four angels 
who are bound in the great river Euphrates. 


The sixth angel, who had the trumpet, was sent off to the 
Euphrates, far away from Judea, and told to loose the four 
angels who are bound in that river. The Euphrates was the 
boundary, separating the Roman from the Parthian Empires. 
It denoted the quarter from whence chastisement was to fall 
on Rome. Parthia was the solitary example, existing at that 
time, of a power capable of injuring Rome. 


15. Καὶ ἐλύθησαν ou τέσσαρες ἄγγελοι οἱ ἡτοιμασμένοι 
Y 
εἰς τὴν ὥραν καὶ ἡμέραν καὶ μῆνα καὶ ἐνιαυτόν, ἵνα ἀποκ- 
τείνωσιν τὸ τρίτον τῶν ἀνθρώπων. 


15. And the four angels were loosed, who were prepared for an hour, 
and a day, and a month, and a year, for to kill the third part of men. 


The action of these angels is summed up in one word, to 
kill. They are “to kill the third part of men,” the pagan or 
Roman third, as we shall find. The Apocalypse divides men 
into three classes, Christians, Jews, and pagans. The four 
death-dealing angels of R. vii. 1 (where see notes), are now con- 
centrated in the river Euphrates, because the punishment of 
Rome is in view. The Seer draws attention to this by using, 
practically, the same words at R. xvi. 12, when the correspond- 


THE JEWISH THEME 241 


ing vial—the sixth vial—looses the Kings of Parthia and Persia 
upon Rome, from τὸν ποταμὸν τὸν μέγαν Eivdpdrnv—* that 
great river Euphrates.”’ 

The Greek words εἰς τὴν ὥραν show that the angels were 
prepared for the hour, and the day and the month .and the year, 
preordained for their work, which time is indefinite—iva 
atroxrelywow— in order that they may kill.” 


16. Kai ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν στρατευμάτων τοῦ ἱππικοῦ δυο- 
μυριάδες μυριάδων ; ἤκουσα τὸν ἀριθμὸν αὐτῶν. 


16. And the number of the army of horsemen was twenty thousand times 
ten thousand. And I heard the number of them. 


(8. has δισμυριάδες.) 

. To keep to the local symbolism of the Euphrates, the invading 
army is composed of horsemen, as the Parthian and Persian 
armies consisted mainly of cavalry. ‘‘ And I heard the number 
of them” shows that the Seer anticipated that the figure 
200,000,000 would astonish his readers. We have foreshadowed 
here all Roman wars from the year 67 till the death of Totila, 
a period of about five hundred years. During that long time 
the Roman Empire was the theatre of almost constant warfare. 
It was invaded on all sides by barbarian hordes, who threw it 
down by force of numbers. Two hundred millions is a round 
number, a symbolic number, meant to convey to the minds of 
readers in the first century an army capable of overwhelming 
Rome, mistress of the world. 


17. Kai οὕτως εἶδον τοὺς ἵππους ἐν TH ὁράσει καὶ τοὺς 
καθημένους ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν, ἔχοντας θώρακας πυρίνους καὶ ὑακιν- 
θίνους καὶ θειώδεις : καὶ αἱ κεφαλαὶ τῶν ἵππων ὡς κεφαλαὶ 
λεόντων, καὶ ἐκ τῶν στομάτων αὐτῶν ἐκπορεύεται πῦρ καὶ 
καπνὸς καὶ θεῖον. 


17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision ; and they who sat on them 
had breastplates of fire, and hyacinth, and brimstone, and the heads of 
the horses were as the heads of lions, and from their mouths proceeded 
fire and smoke and brimstone. 


‘«* And thus I saw the horses in the vision” is in the manner 
of one describing a vision of the past. Moreover it indicates 
purely visionary horses, to be taken symbolically. Θώρακασ 
πυρίνους means breastplates of fiery hue; ὑακινθίνους, dark 
red; and θειώδεις, yellow or sulphur hued. It is a question 

16 


-. 


242 ὲ THE REVELATION 


of colour. The Persian horsemen were protected by breast- 


plates and chain armour. Some few gleamed with silver and 
gold, but the majority wore steel or brass in different degrees 
of polish ; most of them rusty and fiery red in colour. 

But the horses had the ἔμεν of lions. The lion is the 
symbol of Persia, and horses with lions’ heads, coming from 
the Euphrates, denote Persian horses. ‘‘ From their mouths 
proceeded fire and smoke and brimstone,” is a symbolic way of 
saying they breathed forth fire and slaughter. The great 
Temples of Ephesus had tinted sculptures, bas-reliefs, and 
frescoes, of the symbols of warfare. Horses were sometimes 
represented with wide expanded nostrils from which issued the 
hot breath or smoke of battle. The painted tombs of Marissa, 
in Palestine, discovered in the year 1002, contained, amongst 
other frescoes, a well-preserved specimen of the man-headed 
lion of Persia painted in yellow, red and ‘black, showing that 
even in Palestine these symbols were known. Gibbon tells us 
that Julian the Apostate was hated by the Persians who repre- 
sented him in paintings as a furious lion vomiting from his 
mouth, consuming fire (D. and F. c. xxiv.). 

The extraordinary literary finesse with which the Seer 
explains the real meaning of this vision by weaving into it 
key words, such as the “great river Euphrates, horsemen, 
plagues, idolaters, and sorcerers,” all denoting Rome, is very 
remarkable. 


18. ᾿Απὸ τῶν τριῶν πληγῶν τούτῶν ἀπεκτάνθησαν τὸ 
τρίτον τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐ ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ τοῦ καπνοῦ καὶ τοῦ 
θείου, τοῦ ἐκπορευομένου ἐκ τῶν στόματων αὐτῶν. 


18. And by these three plagues was slain the third part of men, by the 
fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone, which issued out of their 
mouths. 


The expression rAnyav— plagues ’—identifies these suffer- 
ings with those poured out of the vials of God’s wrath upon Rome, 
called the seven plagues at R. xv. 1, 6, 8. Here they are sum- 
marised under the symbolism of fire, the generic symbolism of 
suffering. Smoke comes from fire, and @e/ov—‘ brimstone,” 
or sulphur—increases fire. These three figures are put as 
symbols of all the plagues which affected the Roman Empire, Ὁ 
subsequently displayed in the Roman theme. 


THE JEWISH THEME 243 


19. Ἡ γὰρ ἐξουσία τῶν ἵππων ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτῶν 
ἐστιν καὶ ἐν ταῖς οὐραῖς αὐτῶν, ai yap οὐραὶ αὐτῶν ὅμοιαι 
ὄφεσιν, ἔ ἔχουσαι κεφαλάς, καὶ ἐν αὐταῖς ἀδικοῦσιν. 


19. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails ; for 
their tails are like to serpents, having heads, and with them they hurt. 


The barbarian hordes, who overran the Roman Empire, 
destroyed all before them. They laid waste the fairest 
provinces with fire and sword. This is the power of their 
mouths. But ‘their tails were like serpents, having heads, 
and with them they hurt.’’ We have seen at R. ix. 10 that the 
locust army of Roman invaders of Judza ‘‘had tails like unto 
scorpions, and stings were in their tails, and their power was to 
hurt man.” The barbarian armies who chastised Rome had 
tails like serpents’ heads, therefore more venomous than scor- 
pion stings, and the misery and devastation left behind them 
was proportionately greater. Attila boasted that grass never 
grew again where his horses trod ! 


20. Kai ot λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ol οὐκ ἀπεκτάνθησαν 
ἐν ταῖς πληγαῖς ταύταις, οὐδὲ μετενόησαν. ἐκ τῶν ἔργων. τῶν 
ειρῶν αὑτών, ἵνα μὴ προσκυνήσουσιν τὰ δαιμόνια. καὶ τὰ 
εἴδωλα τὰ χρυσα καὶ τὰ ἀργυρᾶ καὶ τὰ χαλκᾶ καὶ τὰ λίθινα 
καὶ τὰ ξύλινα, ἃ οὔτε βλέπειν δύνανται οὔτε ἀκούειν οὔτε 
περιπατεῖν. 


20. And the rest of the men who were not slain by these plagues did 
not do penance for the work of their hands, that they should not adore 
devils, and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which 
neither can see, nor hear, nor walk. 


The repetition of the word “ plagues” in the sense of punish- 
ments indicates the chastisement of Rome. 

The Seer identifies these men who are killed by the cavalry 
of the Euphrates as pagans. They are not Christians. They 
are not Jews. They belong to the third or pagan division of 
men. They are idolaters, and worship “idols of gold and 
silver and brass and stone and wood, which neither can see, 
nor hear, nor walk.” And they adored “devils.” 5. Paul says, 
“ But the things which the heathen sacrifice, they sacrifice to 
devils, and not to God” (1 Cor. x. 20). “And they shall no 
more sacrifice their victims to devils” (Lev. xvii. 7). ‘‘ They 
sacrificed to devils, and not to God, to gods whom they knew 


244 THE REVELATION 


not” (Deut. xxxii. 17). This passage connotes with one in the 
Roman theme. ‘“ And they adored the dragon” (R. xiii. 4). 
The same verb, προσκῦνέω to prostrate oneself, or worship, is 
used in both places. For the wording of verse 20 above, see 
Dan. v. 23. 

“ The rest of the men who were not slain.” Here, of λοιποὶ, 
‘the rest,” has a very wide signification. 


Ν > , > “A , | ng. » > “ 
21. Καὶ οὐ μετενόησαν ἐκ τῶν φόνων αὐτῶν οὔτε ἐκ τῶν 
a “ A “ »» a 
φαρμακιῶν αὐτῶν οὔτε ἐκ τῆς πορνείας αὐτῶν οὔτε ἐκ τῶν 
κλεμμάτων αὐτῶν. 


21. Neither have they done penance for their murders, nor for their 
sorceries, nor for their fornication, nor for their thefts. 


All these things were pre-eminently characteristic of pagan 
Rome. But one especially, φαρμακιῶν ---- ὁ sorceries ”’—has an 
explanatory value. It is made one of the counts of the indict- 
ment against Rome in this Book. ‘“ All the nations have been 
deceived by thy sorceries” (R. xviii. 23). We have it again as 
one of the chief sins, deserving hell, “sorcerers and idolaters ’’ 
(R. xxi. 8). And the chief sinners excluded from heaven are 
‘‘ sorcerers, the unchaste, murderers, and those that serve 
idols’ (R. xxii. 15). One of the principal objects of the Book 
was to keep Christians from falling into Cesar worship, with 
which these sins are identified. 

Even Rome might have been saved by repentance; for that 
is the meaning of “" μετενόησαν ᾿᾿ in v. 20, 21, above: multitudes 
were saved by conversion and repentance, but pagan Rome was 
blotted out. 

The end of the Jewish theme is in sight. The seven sealed 
book is all but finished; the seventh and last trumpet alone 
remains. The Seer looks forward to the Roman theme, which 
follows. It requires a medium of presentation. This sixth- 
trumpet-interval, with its Roman visions, is used to introduce 
the coming Roman theme by means of a new book. The new 
book contains the history of the Church and the World to the 
end of time. 


THE JEWISH THEME 245 


CHAPTER X 


. Kat εἶδον ἄλλον ἄγγελον ἰσχυρὸν καταβαίνοντα ἐκ ἷ 
τοῦ μανοῦ, περεβεβλημένον νεφέλην, καὶ ἡ ἶρις ἐπὶ τὴς 


Slay αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ὡς ὁ ἥλιος, καὶ οἱ 
πόδες αὐτοῦ ὡς στύλοι πυρός. 


1. And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed 
with a cloud, and a rainbow upon his head, and his face was as the sun, 
and his feet as pillars of fire. 


(9. -- τῆν κεφαλὴν.) 

Another angel—dAdov dyyehov—means different from the 
trumpet angel. He is ioyupov— mighty.” He is “ clothed 
with a cloud’ (see Κα. 1. 7); ‘‘and a rainbow on his head ”’ (see 
R. iv. 3); and his face as the sun (see R. i. 16); and his 
feet as pillars of fire (see R. 1. 15. He reflects, as it were, 
some of the attributes of the Divinity. But the resemblance 
stops there. The ἄγγελον ἰσχυρὸν appeared at R. v. 2, and 
called out, “‘ Who is worthy to open the book. "δ appears 
again at ΒΝ. XVili. I “ καταβαίνοντα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ; ” as above, 
and proclaims the fall of Babylon. And again, R. xviii. 21, 
when he casts a stone, the size of a millstone, into the sea, as a 
sign of the disappearance of ancient Rome. 


. Kat ἔχων ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ βίβλαρίδιον ἡ ἡνεῳγμένον, 
καὶ | cer TOV πόδα αὐτοῦ τὸν δεξὶον ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης, 
τὸν δὲ εὐώνυμον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. 


2. And he had in his hand a little book open, and he set his right foot 
upon the sea, and his left foot upon the land. 


The angel had in his hand a small open papyrus manuscript, 
in strong contrast with the seven sealed book, which was in the 
hands of God (R. v. 1). This little book contained the revela- 
tion of the overthrow of the Empire, hence the mighty angel 
sets his feet upon sea and land to proclaim God’s power over 
the whole Empire. The book is called βίβλαρίδιον---““ ἃ little 
book ’”—because the affairs of the pagan empire do not rank in 
importance with those of the chosen people, and because the 
little book is contained in the larger one. It comes out of the 
seventh seal, with the sixth trumpet. It is an “open book ”’ 
because the revelation as to Rome was opened to the reader 
in the vision of horsemen from the Euphrates in the last 
chapter. 


246 THE REVELATION 


3. Καὶ ἔκραξεν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ ὥσπερ λέων μυκᾶται, καὶ 
ὅτε ἔκραξεν, ἐλάλησαν αἱ ἑπτὰ βρονταὶ τὰς ἑαυτῶν φωνάς. 


3. And he cried out with a loud voice as when a lion roareth, and when 
he had cried out seven thunders uttered their voices. 


The voice of the mighty angel is like that of a lion in 
strength. But μυκᾶται denotes the lowing of an ox. His 
voice is like the lion’s roar, deprived of its harshness and 
mellowed. In answer to his voice, seven thunders uttered their 
voices. ’EAdAncay, from λαλέω, signifies intelligible speech. 

Thunder was put as a symbol of the destruction of Sodom by 
Josephus (see notes to vi. 6). It is put in this Revelation asa 
symbol of the fall of Jerusalem at R. xi. 19, and of the fall of 
Rome at R. xvi. 18. It is the symbol of a great catastrophe 
affecting a world power at war with the Church, or the punish- 
ments of God upon a wicked city, people, or country. The 
seven thunders are not to be taken literally as meaning only 
seven. . Seven is used as a noun of multitude in the Apocalypse 
and signifies completeness. The reference is to the future 
judgments of God upon the whole world down to the end of 
time; upon the World at war with the Church. Some thunders 
like the F rench Revolution and the Napoleonic wars have come 
and gone. The reader can supply others from his knowledge 
of history. Others are still in the womb of the future. All, 
little and great, were revealed to the Seer. 


4. Kat OTE ἐλάλησαν αἱ ἑπτὰ βρονταὶ ἤμελλον γράφειν" 
καὶ ἤκουσα φωνὴν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ “λέγουσαν Σφράγισον ἃ 
ἐλάλησαν ai ἑπτὰ βρονταὶ καὶ μὴ αὐτὰ γράψῃς. 


4. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about 
to write, and I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Seal up the things 
which the seven thunders have spoken, and write them not. 


The seven thunders spoke an intelligible language to S. John. 
He understood, and was about to write an account of these 
things, when he heard a voice from heaven ordering him not to 
divulge them. At the end of Revelation S. John is commanded, 
‘Seal not the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time 
is at hand” (R. xxii. 10). That prophecy included a full 
account of the fall of Rome, and a glance at the thousand years 
of the middle ages. But the period from the end of the thou- 
sand years (R. xx. 7) to the day of judgment (R. xx. 9-11) is 
dismissed in twelve lines, and it is probably to that period 


THE JEWISH THEME 247 


that the seven thunders belong. That period began about the 
year fifteen hundred and has already lasted four hundred years. 

This passage shows that S. John had very complete know- 
ledge of the future, and that he wrote down his account after, 
and not during, the visions. The long revelation of future | 
events, contained in the seven thunders, was finished before he 
took up his pen to write. | 

The command not to write these things came from God. 
Heaven is the throne of God. 


5. Kai ὁ ἄγγελος, ὃν εἶδον ἑστῶτα ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης 
καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἦρεν τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ τὴν δεξιὰν εἰς τὸν 
οὐρανόν. 


5. And the angel whom I saw standing upon the sea and upon the land, 
lifted up his right hand to heaven. 


6. Kai ὦμοσεν ἐν τῷ ζῶντι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, 
ὃς ἔκτισεν τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὰ 
A / 
ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ, ὅτι χρόνος οὐκέτι 
» 
ἔσται. 


6. And he swore by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created 
heaven and the things which are therein, and the earth and the things 
which are therein, and the sea and the things which are therein, that time 
shall be no more. 


The key to this passage is found in Daniel’s prophecy of the 
fall of Jerusalem. ‘ And I heard the man that was clothed in 
linen, that stood upon the waters of the river, when he had 
lifted up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and had 
sworn by him that liveth for ever, that it should be unto a 
time and times, and half a time. And when the scattering of 
the band of the holy people shall be accomplished, all these 
things shall be finished” (xii. 7). A ‘‘ time,” one year, and 
“times,” two years, and “ half a time,” half a year, make three. 
and a half years, the duration of the Jewish war. The dispersal 
of the Jews is treated as the final woe. The Jewish theme is 
again in view. The angel swears by the creator of all things 
that χρόνος οὐκέτι ἔσται, “there shall no more be any interval 
of time,” 1.6., “‘no further delay.” 


248 THE REVELATION 


᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ ἑβδόμου ἀγγέλου, 
ὅταν y wey σαλπίζειν, καὶ ἐτελέσθη τὸ “μυστήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ, 
ὡς εὐηγγέλισεν τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ δούλους τοὺς προφήτας. 


7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin 
to sound the trumpet, the mystery of God shall be finished as he hath 
declared by his servants the prophets. 


The seventh angel sounds his trumpet in the next chapter ; 
and when he does so the chorus in heaven explains, ‘‘ The 
kingdom of this world is become our Lord’s and his Christ’s, 
and he shall reign for ever and ever” (R. xi. 15). This is the 
mystery of God as He has declared by His servants, the 
prophets. They foretold the abolition of the religious supremacy 
of the Jews in favour of a new kingdom, the kingdom of Christ. 
The prophet Daniel says, concerning the fourth beast, the 
Roman power, “‘ But the saints of the most high God shall take 
the kingdom, and they shall possess the kingdom for ever and 
ever.” (vii. 18, 27). Our Lord preached the Gospel of the 
kingdom (Matt. iv. 23). He said, ‘‘ There are some standing 
here that shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of 
God” (Luke ix. 27). This referred apparently to the fall of 
the Temple and to S. John. See Jhn. xxi. 22. S. John refers 
to the kingdom in this Revelation, at i. 6, 9, xii. 10. The 
mystery of God shall be finished—éreréo0y τὸ μυστήριον---- 
there shall be no more delay. The seventh trumpet syn- 
chronises with the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, 
“‘ For these are the days of vengeance that all things may be 
fulfilled that are written ” (Luke xxi. 20-22). 


8. Kat ἡ φωνὴ ἣν ἤκουσα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, πάλιν λαλοῦ- 
σαν μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ καὶ λέγουσαν Ὕπαγε λάβε τὸ βιβλίον τὸ 
ἠνεῳγμένον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ τοῦ ἀγγέλου τοῦ ἑστῶτος ἐπὶ τῆς 
θαλάσσης καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. 


8. And I heard a voice from heaven again speaking to me and saying, 
Go and take the book that is open from the hand of the angel standing 
upon the sea and upon the land. 


The Seer heard the voice of God again. He commanded 
him to take the open book “from the hand of the angel,” not 
even qualifying the latter now as a mighty angel. 


THE JEWISH THEME 249 


9. Καὶ ἀπῆλθον πρὸς τὸν ἄγγελον, λέγων αὐτῷ, δοῦναί 
μοι τό βιβλαρίδιον. Καὶ λέγει μοι, Λάβε καὶ κατάφαγε 
αὐτό, καὶ πικρανεῖ σου τὴν κοιλίαν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῷ στόματί σου 
ἔσται γλυκὺ ὡς μέλι. 


9. And I went to the angel, saying unto him that he should give me the 
book. And he said to me, Take the book and devour it, and it shall make 
thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey. 


(8. = ἀπῆλθα.) 

The Seer obeyed the command; and the angel said, “‘ Take 
the book.” There was no question of worthiness. The little 
open book is treated very differently from the seven-sealed 
book. The angel tells him to devour it, not literally, but meta- 
phorically. To devour a book and digest its contents are 
common expressions. The prophet Jeremias says of the words 
of the Lord, “Thy words were found and I did eat them” 
(xv. 16). The key to this symbolism is found in Ezechiel, 
** And I looked eet behold a hand was sent to me wherein was 
a book rolled up, and he spread it before me, and it was written 
within and without; and there were written in it lamentations 
and canticles and woe. ... And he said to me, Son of man, 
eat all that thou shalt find, eat this book, and go speak to the 
children of Israel. And I opened my mouth and he caused: me 
to eat that book. . And he said to me, Son of man, thy 
belly shall eat, and thy bowels shall be filled with this book, 
which I give thee. And I did eat it, and it was sweet as honey 
in my mouth ” (ii. 9, 111. 1-3). The Seer adopts this symbolic 
method of conveying his Revelation of the fall of the Temple 
to the servants of God. 

As regards the Roman theme, later on the Seer is going to 
give us, in the shape of visions, the results of his fully digested 
knowledge of the future, now acquired. That fact, and his 
knowledge of the seven thunders, which he was prepared to 
write down, confirm the view that the composition of the 
greater part of the Book is his own, though inspired by God. 


10. Kai ἔλαβον τὸ βιβλίον. ἐκ τῆς χειρὸς τοῦ ἀγγέλου 
καὶ κατέφαγον αὐτό, καὶ ἦν ἐν τῷ στόματί μου ὡς μέλι 
γλυκύ: καὶ ὅτε ἔφαγον αὐτό, ἐπικράνθη ἡ ἡ κοιλία μου. 

10. And I took the book from the hands of the angel, and devoured it ; 


and it was in my mouth sweet as honey, and when I had devoured it, my 
belly was bitter. 


(S.= βιβλαρίδιον =“ little book ”’—Vg. =librum.) 
The little open book has a double significance in this con- 
nection. On the one hand it affords the matter for a future 


250 THE REVELATION 


revelation concerning the Church and the Gentile world. On_ 
the other, by its connection with Ezechiel, it draws attention to 
the coming end of the Jewish dispensation, and paves the way 
for its narration in the next chapter. Accordingly in the next 
verse we are apprised of a coming cosmopolitan revelation ; 
whereas the present verse points to the downfall of Judea. 

The prophecy contained in the book “ devoured ” by Ezechiel 
related to the woes of Jerusalem. All are ordered to be slain 
who are not marked on their foreheads with the letter tau (T). 
The reference to Ezechiel is opportune since it directs attention 
especially to the siege of Jerusalem. ‘“ And thou shalt turn thy 
face to the siege of Jerusalem, and thy arm shall be stretched 
out, and thou shalt prophesy against it” (Ezech. iv. 7). 


11. Kat λέγει pou Δεῖ σε πάλιν προφητεῦσαι ἐπὶ λαοῖς 
καὶ ἔθνεσιν καὶ γλώσσαις καὶ βασιλεῦσιν πολλοῖς. 


11. And he said to me, Thou must prophesy again to many nations and 
peoples and tongues and kings. 


(S. Ξ-- λέγουσίν.) 

A new commission to prophesy is given to the Seer. 

Professor M. Stuart points out that él λαοῖς «.7.X. Means 
with respect to many nations and peoples and tongues and kings. 
We find, accordingly, reference to many nations, kings, and 
peoples in the Roman theme, which opens at R. xii. 1. 


CHAPTER XI 


\ 964 ἡ" , 7 ces 4 » 
1. Kaw ἐδόθη μοι κάλαμος ὅμοιος ῥάβδῳ, λέγων. ; ἔγειρε 
καὶ μέτρησον τὸν ναὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον καὶ 
τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας ἐν AUTO. 


1. And there was given to me a reed like unto a rod, and it was said to 
me, Arise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that 
adore it. 


Although This sentence begins with the word Καὶ, “‘ and,” 
it is in no way connected with the previous sentence. Kai is 
often used by the Seer to introduce a fresh train of ideas, as at 
R. xii. 1, ἈΠ I, xiv. I, Xv. I, XVi. I, XVii. I, XViii. I, XX. I, XXi. I, 
xxii. 1. On the other hand καὶ connects with the sixth 
trumpet, from which this verse is separated by an interlude. 
The Seer takes us back to the siege of Jerusalem and resumes 
the Revelation of the Jewish catastrophe at the point at which 


THE JEWISH THEME 251 


he broke off at R. ix. 12, “‘and behold there come two more 
woes hereafter.” These two woes come in this chapter, which 
is devoted to a revelation of the last days of Jerusalem. 

The order to measure the Temple comes from God. Prof. 
M. Stuart points out that the Hebrew word used for rod, in 
Ps. Ixxiv. 2, Jer. x. 16, and li. 19, means a measuring rod; and that 
the Septuagint translates it ῥάβδος, in more than twenty-five 
places (op. cit., vii. 216). The Seer was told to rise—"Eyerpe—as 
in the Psalms, ‘rousing to action,’ and measure the Temple of 
God. Τὸν ναὸν refers to the Sanctuary of the Temple. Priests 
only could enter the ναός. The altar—‘ τὸ θυσιαστήριον ”’—we 
may take to be the altar of burnt offerings which stood in the 
inner court of the Temple. 

‘Measure . . . them that adore it.’”” Worshippers are counted, 
not measured. The expression is used in token of symbolism. 
Hebrew Christians were safe-guarded from the punishments of 
the Jews by the sign of baptism on their foreheads. So now, 
before the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, the Naza- 
rene Church, the true vads or sanctuary of the Lord, is 
measured off to a place of safety. 

The measuring rod occurs in Ezechiel xii. 3, where it refers 
to the Temple Ba oo 


23 Kat τὴν αὐλὴν τὴν ἔξωθεν τοῦ ναοῦ ἔκβαλε ἔξω καὶ 
μὴ αὐτὴν μετρήσῃς, ὅτι ἐδόθη τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, καὶ τὴν πόλιν 
τὴν ἀγίαν πατήσουσιν μῆνας τεσσεράκοντα δύο. 

2. But the court which is without the temple cast out and measure it 


not, because it is given to the Gentiles ; and the holy city they shall tread 
under foot forty-two months. 


(S. = ἔξωθεν.) 
The outer court of the Temple is put for the false Jews, who 
slew their Messias. “ Measure it not.” Leave it open to the 


Gentiles. Tots ἔθνεσιν are neither Jews nor Christians. 
They are pagan Romans, the besiegers of Jerusalem. The 
“holy city’’ was one of the synonyms of Jerusalem, 
(Is. xlviii. 2; Matt. xxvii. 53). “‘ Then the devil took him up 
into the holy city, and set him upon the pinnacle of the 
temple” (Matt. iv. 5). ‘‘ Tread under foot,’ πατήσουσιν, con- 
nects with the Gospel of 5. Luke. ‘“ And they shall fall by the 
edge of the sword, and shall be led away captives into al 
nations ; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles 
(πατουμένη ὑπὸ ἐθνῶν), till the times of the nations be ful- 
filled” (Luke xxi. 24). 

The Seer has the fall of Jerusalem in view, and limits the 


252 THE REVELATION | 


period to forty-two months, or three and a half years, the 
duration of the Jewish war. Jerusalem is put for the whole 
of Judea, as commonly in the O.T. Compare with the 
prophecy of Daniel (R. xii. 6). The Nazarene Church, idealised 
as a woman, is shown in the next chapter as preserved by 
God from the dragon for 1,260 days=three and a half years 
(R. xii. 6). 


Ν , “Ὁ Ν , ’ Ν UA 

3. Καὶ δώσω τοῖς δυσὶν μάρτυσίν pov, καὶ προφητεύ- 
σουσιν ἡμέρας χιλίας διακοσίας ἑξήκοντα περιβεβλημένοι, 
σάκκους. 


3. And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a 
thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. 


Here enter two witnesses, who have been a puzzle to exegetes 
from the beginning. This new feature is introduced by the 
word, Kal, “and.” “My two witnesses”” -- μάρτυσίν pou — 
remind us of Antipas—‘‘o μάρτυς wou”—(R. ii. 13). Μάρτυς. 
is put in the N.T. for a Christian martyr. The word is found 
inscribed over certain loculi in the Catacombs, denoting a 


martyr’s resting-place. “My two witnesses” are presently 
martyred in Jerusalem (R. xi. 7). The speaker is evidently 
God. “1 will give” relates to their prophetic mission of 


1,260 days. ἸΠροφητεύσουσιν, is not limited to predicting. A 
prophet ‘preached the word of God, was the mouthpiece of God. 
The period of 1,260 days is the same as the forty-two months 
in which “the Gentiles shall tread the holy city under foot.” 
It is the time of the Jewish war. The two witnesses are 
wrapped round — περιβεβλημένοι ---- ἴθ sackcloth, a touch of 
local colouring distinctive of the mourning of the Jews in the 
first century. 

We gather that two very important witnesses of God were 
present in Jerusalem at the time of the war and made a last, 
and, as we shall see, an extraordinary effort to convert the Jews. 
Some commentators say that these events will take place in 
the last days, when Moses and Elias will appear in Jerusalem, 
and actively oppose an anthropomorphic Antichrist, enthroned in 
that city. The objections to that view are at least threefold. 
First, there is no sign of an anthropomorphic Antichrist, either 
in this Book or in any other Scripture. Second, Jerusalem will 
never recover its fall. Third, the context does not warrant 
the transfer of these events from the year 70 to the end of the 
world. According to the Epistles of S. John, who is the only 
sacred writer who mentions Antichrist, Antichrist is a move- 
ment, and not aman. The modern anthropomorphic Antichrist 


THE JEWISH THEME 253 - 


tradition is medieval in its origin, and is made up of texts from 
the prophecy of Daniel, from S. Paul’s Epistles to the Thes- 
salonians, and from the Apocalypse. 

The Prophet Daniel referred to ‘‘ the abomination of desola- 
tion” standing in the holy place in his predictions regarding 
the fall of Jerusalem (ix. 27). Eusebius, the ecclesiastical 
historian, voicing the tradition of the early Church, says of the 
siege of Jerusalem, ‘“‘ The abomination of desolation, according 
to the prophet’s declaration, stood in the very temple of God” 
(H. E. iii. 5). Our Lord said of the fall of the Temple, “ When 
therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which 
was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy 
place, he that readeth let him understand. Then they that are 
in Judzea let them flee to the mountains” (Matt. xxiv. 15, 16). 

In S. Paul’s voluminous writings there is no mention of Anti- 
christ. Some cryptic references of his to “ the man of sin,” .. . 
“the son of perdition who opposeth and is lifted up above all 
that is called God, or that is worshipped so that he sitteth in the 
temple of God, showing himself as if he were God” (2 Thess. 
li. 3, 4), have been taken to refer to Antichrist, chiefly because 
they are cryptic; as if S. Paul was afraid to mention Anti- 
christ! He would have written about Antichrist as fearlessly 
as S. John, if he had Antichrist in view. There was absolutely 
nothing to hinder him from doing so. But if he had the 
Divine Claudius in view, and referred to Nero as the man of 
sin who should come first, he must symbolise them. His refer- 
ences were cryptic because, like S. John’s in the Apocalypse, 
they were political and referred to the reigning power. S. John 
Chrysostom remarked that S. Paul had the Roman Empire in 
view when he penned his lines to the Thessalonians. S. Paul 
expected the Parousia, or second coming of Christ, to syn- 
chronise with the fall of Jerusalem, and he saw the signs of the 
gathering storm. As he wrote to the Corinthians, “‘ We know 
in part and we prophesy in part” (1 Cor. xili. 9). He pre- 
dicted that Nero, the man of sin, raised to the altar, would 
come first. Mgr. Le Camus, Bishop of La Rochelle, whose 
book “ L’CEuvre des Apétres” has the approval of Pope 
Pius X., says, “ All attempts to explain away Paul's illusion 
concerning the nearness of the Parousia are both superfluous 
and desperate” (op. cit., vii. 235). 

Again, Jerusalem will never regain its former greatness. 
*‘ And Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles till the 
times of the nations be fulfilled” (Luke xxi. 24). That is till the 
end of the world. ‘‘ And the desolation shall continue even to 
the consummation and the end” (Dan. ix. 27). John Henry 
Newman wrote, “ But again the Jewish Temple was confess- 


254 THE REVELATION 


edly the centre of Jewish worship and polity; to rebuild the 
Temple was to establish the Jews, as Jews, in their own land, 
an event which, if prophecy is sure, never is to be” (“‘ Essays on 
Miracles,” p. 342). 

There is no mention of Antichrist in the Revelation of 
5, John, nor is there any vision which can be construed into 
his likeness. The eschatological teaching of Revelation is 
opposed to the anthropomorphic Antichrist idea. We have 
in the Church of Laodicea a picture of the last age of the 
Church of Christ, and in Chapter xx. a picture of its final 
struggles with the world. In neither place is there the least 
hint of a coming Antichrist. War, famine, pestilence, death, 
and persecution, kept the world and the chosen people in order 
until the coming of the Son of man; so, we may reasonably 
suppose, they will suffice to keep the world and the Church in 
order till the second coming. Revelation points to that con- 
clusion. Theagencies to be employed by Christ in dealing with 
mankind are marshalled forth in Chapter vi. of the Book. The 
four living creatures call our particular attention tothem. They 
are the red horse of war, the black horse of famine, the pale 
horse of pestilence ; Death and Hades following after. 

The context does not warrant the transfer of these events to 
the lastdays. The last days in this Revelation are well marked 
as the judgment days. 


Φ A 
4. Οὗτοί εἰσιν ai δύο ἐλαῖαι καὶ ai δύο λυχνίαι αἱ ἐνώπιον 
τοῦ κυρίου τῆς γῆς ἑστῶτες. 


4. These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, that stand 
before the Lord of the earth. 


Here the two witnesses are likened to symbols known to the 
servants of God. We find them in the prophecy of Zacharias. 
‘‘ What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the 
candlestick and upon the left side thereof?” And he said, 
“These are the two sons of oil who stand before the Lord of 
the whole earth” (Zach. iv. 11, 14). These two were Jesus, the 
High Priest, and Zorobabel, two Jews, acceptable to the Lord, 
symbolised as sources of light, feeding the lamp of the taber- 
nacle with oil. Their mission was to build up the Temple. 
Here the mission of the two witnesses is to save the Jews, as it 
were a living Temple. 


THE JEWISH THEME 255 


5. Kai εἴ τις αὐτοὺς θέλει ἀδικῆσαι, πῦρ ἐκπορεύεται 
ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτῶν καὶ κατεσθίει τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτῶν. 
καὶ εἴ τις θελήσῃ αὐτοὺς ἀδικῆσαι, οὕτως, Set αὐτὸν ἀποκ- 
τανθῆναι. 


5. And if any man would hurt them, fire shall come out of their mouths 
and shall devour their enemies ; and if any man would hurt them, in this 
manner must he be slain. 


Fire is the symbol of punishment. ‘“ Thus saith the Lord, 
the God of hosts: Because you have spoken this word, behold I 
will make my words in thy mouth as fire, and this people as 
wood, and it shall devour them” (Jer. v. 14. The two wit- 
nesses shall have God-given power to destroy their assailants. 
Many perished by fire in the last days of Jerusalem, as we learn 
from Josephus. But their power was not limited to material 
fire. It is amplified in the next sentence. They had power to 
control the forces of nature, like the prophets of the Old Law. 


6. Οὗτοι ἔχουσιν ἐξουσίαν κλεῖσαι τὸν οὐρανόν, ἵνα μὴ 
ὑετὸς βρέχῃ τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς προφητείας αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐξουσίαν 
ἔχουσιν ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδάτων στρέφειν αὐτὰ εἰς αἷμα καὶ πατάξαι 
τὴν γῆν ἐν πάσῃ πληγῇ ὁσάκις ἐὰν θελήσωσιν. 


6. These have power to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their 
prophecy ; and they have power over waters to turn them into blood, and 
to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 


(S. = την ἐξουσίαν.) 

These passages recall to mind Moses and Elias. Moses said, 
** Behold I will strike with the rod that is in my hand the water 
of the river and it shall be turned into blood” (Exod. vii. 17). 
And Elias the Thesbite said, ‘‘ There shall not be dew nor rain 
these years, but according to the words of my mouth” (3 Kings 
xvii. 1). The two witnesses are thus compared, by the Seer, 
with the two great witnesses of God in the O.T., Moses and 
Elias. This is a measure of their dignity and importance. 
Their power is “‘ in the days of their prophecy,” viz. the 1,260 
days of the Jewish war. We have seen that waters symbolise 
people. To turn waters into blood is to cause the bloodshed 
of strife. To strike the earth with all plagues, refers here to 
the Jewish earth, and is reminiscent of the plagues of Egypt. 
We shall find Jerusalem presently called Egypt. 


256 THE REVELATION 

7° Καὶ ὅταν τελέσωσιν τὴν μαρτυρίαν αὐτῶν, τὸ θηρίον 
τὸ ᾿αναβαίνον ἐκ τῆς ἀβύσσου ποιήσει μετ᾽ αὐτῶν πόλεμον 
καὶ νικήσει αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀποκτενεῖ αὐτούς. 

7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that 


ascendeth out of the abyss, shall make war against them, and shall over- 
come them and kill them. 


“* The beast that ascendeth out of the abyss” has the article , 

τὸ prefixed = τὸ θηρίον, which shows that it was known to the 
servants of God. Daniel’s fourth beast was known to refer to 
the Roman Empire. In the Roman theme of the Apocalypse 
the beast is used by S. John as:a symbol of Nero. “ He that 
hath understanding let him compute the number of the beast 
(Tod Onpiov), for it is the number of a man, and his number is 
six hundred sixty six’ (R. xiii. 18). The superstitionof Nero’s 
death and reincarnation from the abyss isin view. ‘ And power 
was given to it (the Beast) to act forty-two months” (R. xiii. 5). 
This period corresponds with the thousand two hundred and 
sixty days, during which the two witnesses shall prophesy 
(R. xi. 3). A passage in the Roman theme refers Nero to the 
abyss. “Ἴδα beast which thou sawest, was, and is not, and 
shall come up out of the abyss (τῆς ἀβύσσον) and go into 
destruction ” (R. xvii. 8). The wording τὸ θηρίον... avaBaivew 
ἐκ τῆς ἀβύσσου, is so like the above that it may have an epexe- 
getical value. That isa part of S. John’s system of conveying ἐς 
esoteric meaning to his readers. Note that ‘“ prophecy” 
R. xi. 3, 6 is turned into μαρτυρίαν = “testimony,” in the 
above verse, which relates to the death of the witnesses. They 
are ranked with the martyrs. When they shall have finished 
their testimony—77v paptupiav—they are slain by the beast, 
Nero. Not directly, but indirectly, as one of the results of his 
war. Nero is held accountable for the Jewish war and its 
consequences. 

Τῆς ἀβύσσου, translated ‘the abyss,” above, is translated 
“the bottomless pit ” in the parallel passage at R. xvii. 8. We 
have to go back to the Greek in some cases to find the corre- 
spondence of one verse with another. 


8. Kai τὸ πτῶμα αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τῆς πλατείας τῆς πόλεως τῆς 
μεγάλης, ἥτις καλεῖται πνευματικῶς Σόδομα καὶ Αἴγυπτος, 
ὅπου καὶ ὁ κύριος αὐτῶν ἐσταυρώθη. 

8. And their bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city which is called, 
spiritually, Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 


Their dead bodies lie exposed in the streets of Jerusalem. 
S. John takes care that we shall make no mistake about the 


THE JEWISH THEME 257 


place. He calls it a great city. It had many titles to greatness. 
There were three million inhabitants in it at the time of the 
siege. He does not call it the holy city, as at R. xi. 2, for he 
identifies it otherwise. Spiritually, it is called “Sodom and 
Egypt.” The prophet Isaias, with an eye to the days of its 
punishment, apostrophises Jerusalem as Sodom: “ Hear the 
word of the Lord ye rulers of Sodom” (i. το). The prophet 
Jeremias does the same (xxiii. 14). So does Ezechiel xvi. 46. 
In Ezechiel xxiii. 21, 27, Jerusalem is compared to Egypt. But 
to make it quite clear, we are told, ‘“‘ Where also their Lord was 
crucified.” Jesus Christ was their Lord, and He was crucified 
in Jerusalem. The importance of this statement from an 
exegetical point of view is very great. We have been hitherto 
interpreting symbols only, and they have led us to the fall of 
Jerusalem. We have assumed that the two witnesses testified 
in Jerusalem. Now we know that to be the case. Moreover, as 
Jesus Christ was their Lord, the two witnesses were Christians ; 
μάρτυσίν μου (R. xi. 3). The bodies of the two witnesses left 
exposed were treated with the utmost disrespect ; for we know 
the Jewish people were very solicitous about the burial of their 
dead. See Gen. xxili. 4; Ecc. vi. 3; Isaias xxii. 16. 


9. Καὶ βλέπουσιν ἐκ τῶν λαῶν καὶ φυλῶν καὶ γλωσσῶν 
a an la ν 
καὶ ἐθνῶν τὸ πτῶμα αὐτῶν ἡμέρας τρεῖς καὶ ἥμισυ, καὶ τὰ 
πτώματα αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀφίουσιν τεθῆναι εἰς μνῆμα. 


9. And they of the tribes and people and tongues and nations, shall see 
their bodies for three days and a half, and shall not suffer their bodies te 
be laid in sepulchre. 


Many tribes and nations were at that time in Jerusalem 
King Agrippa I. wrote to the Emperor Caius: 


“ Jerusalem is the metropolis not only of Judza, but of very 
many lands, on account of the colonies which, on various occasions, 
it has sent out into the adjoining countries of Egypt, Phoenicia, 
Syria, Coelesyria, and into the more remote Pamphylia, Cilicia, the 
greater part of Asia Minor as far as Bithynia, and the remotest 
parts of Pontus; likewise into Europe, Thessaly, Boeotia, Mace- 
donia, AZtolia, Attica, Argos, Corinth, most parts (and these the 
fairest) of the Peloponnesus. Nor are Jewish settlements confined 
to the mainland only; they are found also in the more important 
islands—Eubcea, Cyprus, Crete. I did not insist on the countries 
beyond the Euphrates, for with few exceptions all of them, Babylon, 
and the fertile regions around it, have Jewish inhabitants ” (Philo, 
“ Legat. ad Gaium,” sec. 36). 


There were gathered together in Jerusalem in the day of its 
fall Jews from all parts of the earth, or Roman Empire, who 


17 


258 THE REVELATION 


had come up for the great feast of the Passover. At all 
ordinary times it was a Babel of many nations and tongues— 
at this time especially so. After the Holy Ghost had descended 
on the Apostles, we read in the Acts (ii. 5-10): “‘ Now there 
were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of every 
nation under heaven. And when this was noised abroad the 
multitude came together, and were confounded in mind, because 
that every man heard them speak in his own tongue. Par- 
thians and Medes and Elamites, and inhabitants of Meso- 
potamia, Judza, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia. Phrygia 
and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Lybia about Cyrene, 
and strangers of Rome, Jews also and Proselytes, Cretes and 
Arabians; we have heard them speak in our own tongue.” 

The picture drawn at verse g represents the time before the 
siege, when the zealots were masters of Jerusalem. Οὐκ 
ἀφίουσιν, “ will not permit,” refers to them. They were joined 
by bad Jews of all nations assembled in Jerusalem. There 
was drinking and rejoicing of a dissolute kind amongst them. 
Once the Romans surrounded the walls, there was no more 
rejoicing. Famine arose, and dead bodies lay unburied in the 
lanes and houses of the city, or were cast over the walls to 
putrefy (Josph., ‘“ Wars,” V. xii. 3). 


10. Kai οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς χαίρουσιν ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς 
καὶ εὐφραίνονται, καὶ δῶρα πέμψουσιν ἀλλήλοις, ὅτι οὗτοι 
οἱ δύο προφῆται εβασάνισαν τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. 

10. And the inhabitants of the earth shall rejoice over them, and make 


merry, and shall send gifts one to another, because these two prophets 
tormented them that dwelt upon the earth. 


Here, κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ‘the inhabitants of the earth,” 
refers to the Jew dwellers in “Sodom and Egypt’’—that is, 
Jerusalem in its last stage. 

With characteristic obstinacy the Jews assailed the two great 
witnesses sent to convert them. Their preaching and their 
plagues were alike a torment to them. When they were slain 
there were mutual congratulations on the part of the zealots 
of all tribes, and they made it as an occasion for rejoicing by 
gifts. “᾿Εὐφραίονται " refers to the conviviality of banquets, 
in which oil and wine and gifts.of meats probably played a 
part. See Luke xii. 19, xv. 23, and xvi. 19. The spite and 
vengeful feeling of the zealots against the two Christian wit- 
nesses was So great that they would not allow their corpses to 
be buried, contrary to the custom of the Jews and the dictates 
of health. | 


THE JEWISH THEME 259 


11. Kat “μετὰ τὰς τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ ἥμισυ πνεῦμα ζωῆς 
ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰσῆλθεν ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἔστησαν ἐπὶ τοὺς πόδας 


αὐτῶν, καὶ φόβος μέγας ἐπέπεσεν ἐπὶ τοὺς θεωροῦντας 
αὐτούς. 


11. And after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered 
into them. And they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them 
that saw them. 


Bodies exposed for three days and a half in Jerusalem must 
have been far advanced in decomposition. When our Saviour 
went to the tomb of Lazarus to raise him again to life, Martha 
said, “‘ Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he is now four days” 
(Jhn. x1. 39). This convincing proof of the death of the wit- 
nesses was given; and then they were raised again to life. 
Consequently a great fear fell upon those that saw them. The 
fear of God’s retribution smote them. 


12. Kat ἤκουσαν φωνὴν μεγάλην € ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, λέγου- 
σαν αὐτοῖς ᾿Ανάβατε ὧδε, καὶ ἀνέβησαν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐν 
τῇ νεφέλῃ, καὶ ἐθεώρησαν αὐτοὺς οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτῶν. 


12, And they heard a great voice from heaven saying to them, Come up 
hither, And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 


(53.-- φωνῆς μεγάλης . . . λεγούσης.) 

There is a certain distant parallelism between the death and 
ascension of the two witnesses and that of our Lord, which 
gives them an added importance. They went up in a cloud 
(See Acts i. g). The great voice from heaven was the voice of 
God, as at R. x. 4. 

We are in a position now to examine the aqivehtion of the 
identity of the two witnesses from the historic standpoint. 
When the Seer measured off the inner Temple, symbolising the 
flight of the Nazarene Church to Pella, the witnesses appeared 
in the streets of Jerusalem. Two witnesses were required by 
Jewish law to attest the truth. “ And in your law it is written 
that the testimony of two men is true” (Jhn. viii. 17). They 
were Christian witnesses, as we gather from the use of the 
word μάρτυς, and from the reference to Jesus Christ as their 
Lord, ‘‘ where also their Lord was crucified” (R. xi. 8). They 
remained in Jerusalem and devoted their lives to the conversion 
of their brethren when their fellow Nazarenes fled to Pella. 
They were men of high position in the Church, specially chosen 
for this work by God. Their mission was to prophesy and to 
witness for Christ. This would bring them into collision with 
the Jews. Hence they were given special powers of defence. 


260 THE REVELATION 


The time of the mission was the beginning of the war. The 
1,260 days indicate the time of the war. It was a time of great 
signs and wonders. Our Lord foretold them. 

Josephus relates that Jesus, the son of Ananus, a plebeian, 
during the war and for four years before it, went about the city 
proclaiming the woes of Jerusalem. He was whipped till his 
bones were laid bare, but his answer to every stroke of the whip 
was ‘“‘ Woe, woe, to Jerusalem.” There were visions of armies 
in the clouds, voices in the Temple, and “a star resembling a 
sword that stood over the city ” (Joseph., “ Wars,” VI. v. 3); 
which ‘‘star resembling a sword”’ is found by calculation to 
have been Halley’s Comet. ' 

There is nothing strange in the presence of two Christian 
witnesses in Jerusalem, at that time, exercising supernatural 
powers. On the contrary it would be strange if the Nazarenes 
all fled away and abandoned their Jewish brethren to their fate. 
There is no record of these remarkable events anywhere outside 
the Revelation of S. John. But much the same thing may be 
said of the miracles of our Lord, performed publicly in times of 
peace. They are nowhere chronicled outside the pages of the 
New Testament. There was a conspiracy of silence on the part 
of heathen and Jewish writers as regards Christian miracles. 
They noticed Christianity only to revile it. 

But there is in Josephus something which looks like a garbled 
account of the two witnesses. Josephus was a prejudiced 
witness. Dr. F. W. Farrar, on “ Jesus Christ” in the Encye. 
Brit., says of Josephus, “The passage in which he speaks 
of the preaching and execution of John the Baptist is not 
disputed, and is very important as showing that Josephus must 
have been perfectly well acquainted with the facts of Christ’s 
life, and that he passed them over in his usual unscrupulous 
way, with a reticence due only to dislike or perplexity.” 

Josephus makes particular mention of two men, who with- 
stood the wicked zealots and preached to them. The first he 
calls Ananus, the oldest of the high priests. ‘‘ He was a very 
prudent man, and had perhaps saved the city if he could have 
escaped the hands of those that plotted against him.’ Again, he 
says, ‘“‘ The best esteemed also of the high priests, Jesus the son 
of Gamala, and Ananus the son of Ananus, when they were at 
their assemblies, bitterly reproached the people for their sloth 
and excited them against the zealots.” ‘ Ananus stood in the 
midst of them, and casting his eyes frequently at the Temple. . . 
he said, Certainly it had been good for me to die before I had 
seen the house of God full of so many abominations,” etc. 
(“‘ Wars,” iv. 111). And Jesus spoke thus of the zealots, “‘ They 
are robbers who by their prodigious wickedness have profaned 


THE JEWISH THEME 261 


this most sacred floor, and who are to be seen now drinking 
themselves drunk in the sanctuary ” (“‘ Wars,” iv. 4). 

When the Idumezans were let into Jerusalem by the zealots 
. . . they sought for these two high priests, and the generality 
went with the greatest zeal against them; but as soon as they 
caught them they slew them, and then standing upon their 
dead bodies, in way of jest upbraided Ananus with his kindness 
to the people and Jesus with his speech. 


“Nay, they proceeded to that degree of impiety, as to cast away 
their bodies without burial, although the Jews used to take so much 
care of the burial of men, that they took down those that were 
condemned and crucified, and buried them before the going down of 
the sun. I should not mistake if I said that the death of Ananus 
was the beginning of the destruction of the city. He was on other 
accounts a venerable and very just man, and besides the grandeur of 
that nobility, and dignity, and honour of which he was possessed, he 
had been a lover of a kind of parity, even with regard to the meanest 
of the people. . . . Jesus was also joined with him, and although 
he was inferior to him upon the comparison, he was superior to the 
rest. And I cannot but think that it was because God had doomed 
this city to destruction as a polluted city, and was resolved to purge 
His sanctuary by fire, that He cut off these, its great defenders and 
well-wishers ; while those who had a little before worn the sacred 
garments ... were cast out naked and seen to be the food of dogs 
and wild beasts” (“ Wars,” iv. 5). 


The coincidence with Revelation is remarkable; but that is 
all we get from Josephus. He records no witness to Chris- 
tianity, no miracles, and no ascension of the two witnesses. 
We are entitled to believe from his suppression of all Christian 
miracles that he would not record such things if he knew them 
to have happened ! 

But Josephus did not see or hear the two witnesses. Whilst 
these events were going on in Jerusalem, he was a prisoner in 
chains in the camp of Vespasian, in another part of Judea. 
He had no chance of speech with the inhabitants of Jerusalem 
till Titus brought him to the city walls, long afterwards, still a 
prisoner of war, but unchained. Titus used him as an in- 
terpreter. ‘And what information the deserters brought out 
of the city, I was the only man that understood them ”’ (Joseph. 
Apion. I.).. He put into the mouths of Ananus and Jesus long 
orations (see ‘‘ Wars,” iv. 3 and 4), which no one could have 
reported verbatim. They are obviously Josephian speeches of 
his own invention. If we add invention to suppression, what 
residuum of fact remains supports the conclusion that the 
two witnesses are historic characters, great Hebrew Christian 
prophets slain, like “ their Lord,” by the Jews. 


262 THE REVELATION 


AnD > ’ nan & > 4 Ν ’, Ν Ν 
13. Καὶ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ ἐγένετο σεισμὸς μέγας, καὶ τὸ 
δέκατον τῆς πόλεως ἔπεσεν, καὶ ἀπεκτάνθησαν ἐν τῷ σεισμῷ 
ἀν > , ΄ ε a \ ε . ἊΨ 
ὀνόματα ἀνθρώπων νᾶμα ἑπτά" καὶ ot λοιποὶ ἔμφοβοι 
ἐγένοντο καὶ ἔδωκαν δόξαν τῷ θεῷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. 
13. And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of 


the city fell ; and there were slain in the earthquake names of men seven 


thousand ; and the rest were cast into a fear, and gave glory to the God of 
heaven. 


“Hour” is not to be taken literally. ‘‘ But the hour cometh 
and now is when the true adorers shall adore the Father in 
spirit and in truth” (Jhn. iv. 23). We have had an earthquake 
before at R. vi. 12 (where see notes). An earthquake is put for 
a great political upheaval in this book as in Ezechiel xxxviili. 19, 
and the fall of Rome (R. xvi. 18). The tenth part of the city 
fell. The Temple of Jerusalem was utterly destroyed, but 
only a part of the city was thrown down. Jerusalem was not 
long afterwards reinhabited by the Jews. ‘‘ Names of men” is 
put for men. See R. iii. 4, notes. ‘‘ Seven thousand” slain is 
put for many thousand. The significance of seven is amplitude. 
Josephus says that Cestius had a census of the population of 
Jerusalem taken on the feast of the Passover, at the beginning 
of the war, which showed 2,750,000 inhabitants, exclusive of 
foreigners, lepers, and others. As the result of the war 
1,100,000, were slain by war, famine and pestilence (“ Wars,” vi. 
9, 3). “The rest” doubtless includes the Nazarenes and 
thousands of others who escaped from the city. These with 
the captives taken to Rome, or sold into slavery, were struck 
with the fear of God, and gave glory to him. Οἱ λοιποὶ, “ the 
rest,” must be put in this case at a million or more. See 
R. ii. 24, notes. 


14. Ἢ oval ἡ δευτέρα ἀπῆλθεν - ἰδοὺ ἡ οὐαὶ ἡ τρίτη 
ἔρχεται ταχύ. 
14. The second woe is past ; and behold the third woe will come quickly. 


At R. ix. 12, after the scorpion visitation on Jerusalem, we 
were told, “‘ One woe is past, and behold there come two more 
woes hereafter.’ Now, after the siege and fall of the Temple, 
we are told, ‘‘ The second woe is past, and behold the third woe 
will come quickly.” It comes in the next sentence. 


THE JEWISH THEME 263 


15. Kat ὁ ἕβδομος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν - καὶ ἐγένοντο 
φωναὶ μεγάλαι ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, λέγοντες, ᾿Εγένετο ἡ βασιλεία 
τοῦ κόσμου τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ, καὶ 
βασιλεύσει εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. 


15. And the seventh angel sounded the trumpet, and there were great 
voices in heaven, saying. The Kingdom of this world is become our Lord’s 
and his Christ’s, and he shall reign for ever and ever ; Amen. 


Note “ Amen ”’ is not in Greek, above. 

The first woe was the invasion of Judza, and civil war in 
Jerusalem. The second the fall of the Temple and sack of the 
city. The third woe we take to be the dispersal of the Jews, 
as God declared to the Prophet Daniel. ‘“‘And when the 
scattering of the band of the holy people shall be accomplished 
all these things shall be finished” (Dan. xii. 7). “In the days 
of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound 
the trumpet, the mystery of God shall be finished, as he has 
declared by his servants the prophets” (R.x. 7). From Amos to 
Jeremias the prophets had one main purpose, and that was to 
warn the Hebrew nation that it had incurred the wrath of God 
and must suffer unless it repented. They were prophets of woe 
who foretold the end of the Jewish dispensation, and the coming 
of the kingdom of Christ. The last woe trumpet sounded the 
death knell of the Jewish Kingdom and heralded the coming of 
age of the Kingdom of Christ. And great voices in the court 
of heaven were heard saying, ‘‘The kingdom of this world is 
become our Lord’s and his Christ’s, and he shall reign for 
ever and ever.” The fall of the Temple marked the complete 
detachment of the Kingdom of Christ from the things of the 
Old Law. At the death of Christ the veil of the Temple was 
rent in two, from the top even to the bottom, showing that 
the covenant was torn up (Matt. xxvii. 51). 


ἣν ε » Pe 4 ε 5 ’ A 

16. Kat οἱ εἴκοσι τέσσαρες πρεσβύτεροι, οἱ ἐνώπιον TOU 

al , al » , ΩΝ Ὶ ‘ 

Θεοῦ καθήμενοι ἐπὶ τοὺς θρόνους αὐτῶν, ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ τὰ 
πρόσωπα αὐτῶν καὶ προσεκύνησαν τῷ Θεῷ. 


16. And the four and twenty ancients, who sit on their seats in the sight 
of God, fell on their faces and adored God. 


The whole court of heaven, watching over the progress of 
events, acclaimed the establishment of the Kingdom of Christ 
on the ruins of the Temple, and the four and twenty ancients 
who were all Hebrews, fell upon their faces and adored God. 


264 THE REVELATION 


/ > ~ 4 4 ε Ν ε 
17. Λέγοντες, Εὐχαριστουμέν σοι Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς ὁ παντο-. 
κράτωρ, 6 ὦν καὶ ὁ ἦν, ὅτι εἴληφας τὴν δύναμίν σου τὴν 
μεγάλην καὶ ἐβασίλευσας. 


17. Saying, We give thee thanks O Lord God, Almighty, who art and 
who wast, and who art to come, because thou hast taken thy great power, 
and thou hast reigned. 


Note, “‘and who art to come” is not in the Greek, above. 
Vg. et qui venturus es. 

The ancients give thanks to God because He has assumed 
His great power and has become King. Ἐβασίλευσας, “ hast 
reigned as a King ”—faordevs—refers to the Kingdom. The 
prophets of the Old Law and the Apostles of the New thank 
God for establishing the spiritual Kingdom of Christ upon 
earth. They concur in the justice of God’s judgment on the 
Jews. 


18. Καὶ τὰ ἔθνη ὠργίσθησαν, καὶ ἦλθεν ἡ ὀργή σου καὶ 
ὁ καιρὸς τῶν νεκρῶν κριθῆναι καὶ δοῦναι τὸν μισθὸν τοῖς 
δούλοις σου τοῖς προφήταις καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις καὶ τοῖς φοβου- 
μένοις τὸ ὄνομά σου, τοῖς μικροῖς καὶ τοῖς μεγάλοις, καὶ 


διαφθεῖραι τοὺς διαφθείροντας τὴν γῆν. 


18. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of 
the dead to be judged and to render a reward to thy servants, the prophets, 
and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, little and great, and to 
destroy them who have corrupted the earth. 


(S.= τοὺς μικροὺς καὶ τοὺς μεγάλους.) 

The four and twenty ancients apparently continue to speak. 
This verse is not separated from the preceding context by 
peta ταῦτα or any other sign of a breach of continuity, hence 
it belongs to the Jewish theme and has a purely Jewish 
significance. 

“And the nations were angry,” with the remnant of the 
Jews, understood, as they are and have been for centuries, 
because God's “‘ wrath is come.” 

“And the time of the dead to be judged”; that is the dead 
slain in the Jewish drama. The Seer follows the custom of 
Greek tragedy in pointing out the end of his dramatis persone. 
Especial regard is given to the reward of the Messianic Jews, 
for ὁ xatpos—the due season—has come to give them “ Top- 
μισθὸν ’’—‘‘ the reward” promised to the just at the end of the 
Book. “My reward (ὁ μισθός pov) is with me to render to 


THE JEWISH THEME 265 


every man according to his works” (R. xxii. 12). “ Thy 
servants, the prophets,” are men of Apostolic rank, not seen 
after the first century. 

“Agto, “the saints,” denoted Christians in S. John’s day, 
and he uses the expression in this Book to denote members of 
the Church of Christ even in the last days. At the end, Satan 
seduces the nations and they “ surround the camp of the saints 
(τῶν ἁγίων) and the beloved city ” (R. xx. 8). 

“And to them that fear thy name, little and great,” pro- 
claims another class to be rewarded. At Chapter xix. we are 
told ‘‘ A voice came out from the throne, saying, Praise ye our 
God all his servants and you that fear him, little and great ” 
(R. XIX. 5). The “Invisible Church” might be indicated there. 
But in the Jewish theme we have had only those who feared 
“the wrath of the Lamb” (R. vi. 16). 

““Απά to destroy them who have corrupted the earth,” refers 
to pagan Rome, represented in this Book as a triumvirate, com- 
posed of Satan, the Czsars, and the pagan hierarchy. This 
announcement looks back to the martyrs’ prayer at R. vi. 10 
and to the command at R. x. 11, and forward to the Roman 
drama which begins in the next chapter. 


‘ 3 ε la) A lal nw 
19. Καὶ ἠνοίγη ὁ ναὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ 6 ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, Kai 
» ε Ν la A“ fal lal Le) 
ὠφθη ἡ κιβωτὸς τῆς διαθήκης αὐτοῦ ἐν TO ναῷ αὐτοῦ, Kat 
3 ia > Ἀ Ν 
ἐγένοντο ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταὶ καὶ σεισμὸς καὶ 


χάλαζα μεγάλη. 


19. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of his 
testament was seen in his temple, and there were lightnings and voices and 
an earthquake and great hail. 


We have had references to the vads or sanctuary of the 
Temple at R. iii. 12 and vii. 15. It occurs again at R. xv. 5, 6, 
where the seven angels having the seven plagues come out of 
it. “The ark of the Testament” (Exod. xxv. 16, 22; xxx. 26), 
called also “the ark of the Covenant’”’ (Jos. iii. 6, 11, 14, 
Numb. x. 33, Deut. x. 8), was the visible sign of God’s dwelling 
with the Israelites. It contained the tables of the Law 
(Exod. xl. 18, Deut. x. 5). It was preserved in the tabernacle 
of the Temple, and a veil was drawn before it (Exod. xl. 18, 19). 
It was a chest of satin wood, plated with gold, within and with- 
out, and it was carried off by the Babylonians at the fall of 
Jerusalem, 587 3.c. (4 Kings xxv. 13 f.). The prophet Jeremias 
predicted its disappearance (Jer. iii. 16). But there were Jewish 
traditions concerning its reappearance at the time of the Messias. 


266 THE REVELATION 


“ΤῈ was a common belief among the rabbis of old that it would 
be found at the coming of the Messias”’ (Ὁ. L. Souvay, D.D.,~ 
etc., “The Cath. Encyc.’’). S. John concludes the Jewish 
theme with this characteristically Jewish vision. The lost Ark 
of God’s testament is seen in the vads or tabernacle of heaven, 
which is opened for that purpose. 

Lightnings, voices, and thunders are manifestations of the 
majesty of God, suitable to the occasion. See R.iv.5. Thunders 
(βρονταὶ in the Greek) are omitted in the English version, which 
tinue the Vulgate. An earthquake and great hail are symbols 
of destruction (R. vi. 12, vill. 5, xi. 13, xvi. 18, 21). They form 
a fitting finale to the Jewish theme. 


PART IV 


THE ROMAN THEME 


CHAPTER XII 


HERE begins the preface to the Roman theme. When S. John 
had devoured the little open book, his belly was bitter, showing 
that he had digested its bitter contents and was full of the 
knowledge of the future. He was then ordered to prophesy 
again, denoting a fresh prophecy, “ to nations and peoples and 
tongues and to many kings” (R. x. 11). We have seen that 
ἐπὶ λαοῖς means “ concerning nations,” etc. We shall find that 
commission fulfilled in the Roman theme. The Seer makes 
use of the stage and scenery, as it were, of the Jewish theme, 
and displays his visions of the future, dramatically, before the 
Court of Heaven, which intervenes at times, to help us to 
understand the matter. There is no fresh ecstasy, not even a 
peta ταῦτα to delimit this theme from the last, for it is a con- 
tinuation of the revelation in answer to the martyrs’ prayer— 
especially to “ οὐ κρίνεις,᾽᾽ “dost thou not judge.” The Seer 
begins the new revelation with the birth of Christ and of His 
Church. This necessitates some overlapping with the Jewish 
theme, so that we shall find the escape of the Nazarene Church 
to Pella again in view. 


A “ 4 » > lal > “ \ 
1. Kai σημεῖον μέγα ὥφθη ἐν τῷ οὐρανῶ: γυνὴ περιβε- 
βλημένη τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ ἡ σελήνη ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν αὐτῆς, 
καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῆς στέφανος ἀστέρων δώδεκα. 


1. And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, 
and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 


Σημεῖον, “sign,” is used in a like sense in Matt. xxiv. 30, 
“‘and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven.” 
A woman clothed with the sun. We take this “ woman” to be 
the Church of Christ. The Seer places the Church, idealised 
267 


268 THE REVELATION 


as a mother, in the forefront of his vision, as she is the subject 
of his theme. He places her in heaven as “‘a great sign” of - 
her ultimate triumph. He clothes her with the light of her 
Founder, as she is to illuminate the world. ‘“ And art clothed 
with light as with a garment” (Ps. ciii. 2), “And his face 
shone as the sun shineth in its full strength ” (R. i. 16). “On 
her head a crown of twelve stars.’”” The stars signify the 
twelve Apostles. (See R.i. 20, notes.) At R. xxi. 14, the twelve 
Apostles are shown as the foundations of the Church. But the 
Church is the Bride, “the wife of the Lamb ”—rnv γυναῖκα τοῦ 
apviov (R. xxi. 9). Accordingly, we find γυνὴ, “the woman” or 
“wife,” appearing gloriously in heaven, her Apostolic founders 
forming an aureola of stars about her head. She has under her 
feet the moon, which reflects the light of the sun. It is put 
for the body of the Church, waxing and waning as persecution 
or prosperity affects it. 

S. John characteristically goes back to the beginning, even to 
Genesis, as we shall see. 


Ἀ 5 ‘\ ¥ , 3 ’ Ν 
2. Καὶ ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχουσα κράζει ὠδίνουσα καὶ βασανι- 
ζομένη τεκεῖν. 


2. And being with child, she cried, travailing in birth, and was in pain to 
be delivered. 


The wife of the Lamb is represented as being in painful 
labour. Some commentators see a figure of the Virgin- Mother 
of God in this woman. They have in mind the prophecy of 
Isaias: “Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. 
Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son”? (Isa. vii. 14). 
But the Blessed Virgin being free from original sin (The Im- 
maculate Conception) was free from the pains of child-birth 
(Gen. iii. 16). Hence, “‘ βασανιζομένη,᾽ an expression used for 
the torments of the Jews in the Jewish theme (R. ix. 5), and 
for the torments of hell at R. xiv. 10, would not apply to her. 
The woman in labour symbolises the early Church which 
generated her children with many tribulations. S. John would 
not symbolise the Blessed Virgin as an ordinary woman—yuv7 
—in the tortures of labour! The expression παρθένος, “a 
virgin,’’ was due to our Lady. He avoids the word “ virgin ”’ 
to show his meaning. Presently he represents the woman in 
flight to Pella, and Satan persecuting the woman and her 
seed. 


THE ROMAN THEME 269 


3. Kat ὠφθη ἄλλο σημεῖον ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἰδοὺ 
δράκων μέγας πυρρός, ἔχων κεφαλὰς ἑπτὰ καὶ κέρατα δέκα 
καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτοῦ ἑπτὰ διαδήματα. 


3. And there appeared another sign in heaven, and behold a great red — 
dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 


Another—onpeiov—“ sign” is seen in heaven, the dragon, the 
enemy of the Woman. We are told in verse 9 that the dragon 
is Satan. Thus, the two great protagonists in the theme of the 
Book, the Church and Satan, are brought before us in its 
opening scene. 

The great saurians of the Tigris and Euphrates were the 
embodiment of evil to primitive man. Hence they were put 
for the evil spirit, and endowed with wings. Satan, the dragon, 
has seven heads. The number seven indicates an innumerable 
host—* principalities and powers . . . the rulers of the world 
of this darkness . . . the spirits of wickedness in the high 
places” (Eph. vi. 12). He has ten horns, or “ powers,” 
with which he pushes his way in the world. These are 
world-powers, who do his will (Dan. vii. 20, 21, 24, viii. 3, 5, 
20, 21). He is a red dragon, for his mission in this Book is 
to stir up bloody persecutions against the Woman, and he is 
stained with the blood of her children. Our Lord, addressing 
the Jews, said: “ You are of your father, the devil, and the 
desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from 
the beginning” (Jhn. viii. 44). ‘‘And on his heads seven 
diadems.” Diadems are distinctive of royalty. 5. John, in his 
Gospel, calls Satan “the Prince of this world ” (xii. 31, xiv. 30, 
xvi. 11). Later in the Book, when our Lord appears as a 
conqueror, ‘“‘he has on his head many diadems,” as He is 
“ King of Kings” (R. xix. 12, 16). 


4. Kai ἡ οὐρὰ αὐτοῦ σύρει τὸ τρίτον τῶν ἀστέρων τοῦ 
οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἔβαλεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν" καὶ ὁ δράκων 
ἕστηκεν ἐνώπιον τῆς γυναικὸς τῆς μελλούσης τεκεῖν, ἵνα 
ὅταν τέκῃ τὸ τέκνον αὐτῆς καταφάγῃ. 

4. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and cast them 


to the earth ; and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to be 
delivered, that when she should be delivered he might devour her son. 


We have had a reference to Lucifer as the fallen star at 
R. ix. 1 (where see notes). Here the stars of heaven, the rebel 
angels, are dragged down to earth by the fall of Lucifer. This 


270 THE REVELATION 


is fully explained presently at verses 7 and 8. The third part - 
is an expression used in the Jewish theme to denote a consider- 
able part. The dragon is represented as watching over the 
birth of Christianity with the intention of devouring it at its 
birth. At the birth of Christ, Satan inspired Herod who 
“killed all the men-children that were in Bethlehem and in all 
the confines thereof, from two years old and under” (Matt. 
ii. 16). He inspired the Jews to crucify Christ, and murder 
and persecute His followers. In every age, wherever the 
dragon prevails by means of revolutions or otherwise, his 
children stand before the Woman—i.e., the Church—bent on 
destroying her. 


Καὶ ἔτεκεν υἱόν ἄρρενα ὃς μέλλει ποιμαίνειν πάντα τὰ 
ἔθνη ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ" καὶ ἡρπάσθη τὸ τέκνον αὐτῆς πρὸς 
τὸν Θεὸν καὶ πρὸς τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ. 


5. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with 
an iron rod ; and her son was taken up to God and to his throne. 


(S.=dpoev. See verse 13, τὸν ἄρσενα.) 

Ὡς μέλλει ποιμαίνειν, “ who was (about) to rule all nations 
with an iron rod.” The man child is Jesus Christ. The 
reference is to Psalm ii. ‘“‘ The Lord hath said to me, Thou 
art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and 
I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance. . .. Thou shalt 
rule them with a rod of iron” (Ps. ii. 7, 8, 9). He is the Con- 
queror who shall rule the Gentiles with a rod of iron, see, 
R. xix. 15. 

“Her son was taken up to God” indicates the Ascension. 
(See Jhn. xx. 17.) “And to his throne” refers back to 
R. ii. 21: ‘As I also have overcome and have sat with my 
Father in his throne.”’ Jesus Christ is represented, symbolically, 
as the first begotten of His Church. 


6. Kat ἡ γυνὴ ἔφυγεν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον, ὅπου ἔχει ἐκεῖ 
τόπον ἡτοιμασμένον ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἵνα ἐκεῖ τρέφωσιν αὐτὴν 
ἡμέρας χιλίας διακοσίας ἑξήκοντα. 


6. And the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place 
prepared by God, that there they should feed her a thousand two hundred 
and sixty days. 


The Woman is shown to be Mother Church in this passage. 
The Nazarene Church, which was the Mother Church of 


THE ROMAN THEME 271 


Christendom, escaped the dragon at the siege of Jerusalem by 
fleeing to the highlands of Pella. This place in the rocky 
mountains of Moab was a “ desert’ compared to Jerusalem. 
That she had a place prepared by God where they should feed 
her 1,260 days, carries out the symbolism of the Church as a | 
woman. The 1,260 days, we have seen, denote the period of 
the Jewish war. It was the period when the Nazarene Church 
fled from Jerusalem. See R. xi. 2, 3 

Τὴν épnuov— the desert”—from which the word hermit is 
derived, is translated above ‘‘the wilderness.” But in the 
connecting passage at R. xii. 14, referring to the same episode, 
it is translated ‘‘ the desert.” In like manner τρέφωσιν, which 
is translated ‘‘ to feed” here, is translated “to nourish” in the 
corresponding verse, xli. 14; thus missing the verbal con- 
cordance put for our guidance by S. John. 


Ν > 4 ,ὔ 3 »-- > nw ε Ν ἈΝ ε 

7. Καὶ ἐγένετο πόλεμος ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὁ Μιχαὴλ καὶ οἱ 

ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ τοῦ πολεμῆσαι μετὰ τοῦ δράκοντος, καὶ ὁ 
δράκων επολέμησεν καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ.. 


7. And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought 
with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels. 


It looks as if Satan seeing “the man child,” whom he wished 
to devour, ‘‘ taken up to God and to his throne,” followed Him, 
ignorant of His Divinity. He tempted our Lord in the desert, 
not knowing Him to be the Son of God (Matt. iv. 3 f.). 
S. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon and his 
angels, and overcame them (next verse). Michael, according 
to the prophet Daniel, is one of the chief princes of heaven 
(x. 13, 21). S. Jude calls him ‘‘ Michael the Archangel ” (9). 
This symbolism. of the dragon and the woman goes back to 
' Genesis to the serpent and the woman, “I will put enmities 
between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed” 
(Gen. iii. 15). The seed of the woman is the Church. That 
S. John has Genesis in view will appear directly. 


8 K A > ¥ ὑδὲ , ε a ~ δὰ ¥ 5 ΄“-“ 
. Qt OUK to XVOEV, OVOE TOTOS εὑρέθη QUT@V ETL εν TW 
οὐρανῷ. 


8. And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in 
heaven. 


z72 THE REVELATION 


9. Kai ἐβλήθη ὁ δράκων ὁ μέγας, ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος, ὃ. 
καλούμενος Διάβολος καὶ ὁ σατανᾶς, 6 πλανῶν τὴν οἰκου- 

/ ν 5 lA > Ν lal Ἀ εν > “Ὁ > 
μένην ὅλην, ἐβλήθη εἰς THY γῆν, καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ μετ 
αὐτοῦ ἐβλήθησαν. 

9. And the great dragon was cast out, the old serpent who is called the 


Devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world ; and he was cast unto the 
earth and his angels were thrown down with him. 


The identity of the great dragon is now made manifest. He 
is the old serpent of Genesis, who is called the Devil and Satan ; 
Διάβολος in Greek and Σατανᾶς in Hebrew. The Seer, as usual, 
gives the Greek and Hebrew names. S. Michael and his angels 
cast down Lucifer and the rebel angels, eis τὴν γῆν, to the earth. 
I saw Satan like lightning falling from heaven (Luke x. 18). 
His power is now limited to the wicked children of the earth, 
who are his horns. Satan’s place in heaven was taken from 
him. See also next verse. 


10. Καὶ ἤκουσα φωνὴν μεγάλην ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ λέγουσαν 
"Aptu ἐγένετο ἡ σωτηρία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ 
Θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐβλήθη ὃ 
κατήγωρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν, ὁ κατηγορῶν αὐτῶν ἐνώπιον 
τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός. 

1o. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying. Now is come salvation 
and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ ; 
because the accuser of our brethren is cast forth, who accused them before 
our God, day and night. 

(9. - κατηγορῶν αὐτους.) 

The loud voice is put for the combined voices of heaven, as 
at R. v. 11, where thousands of thousands say “‘ with a loud 
voice "᾿-- φωνῇ μεγάλῃ." They proclaim the establishment of 
the Kingdom of our God. So, when the Lamb had opened the 
book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty ancients 
fell down before the Lamb, and said: ‘‘ And hast made us to 
our God a kingdom and priests” (R. v. το). In the doxology 
of the Lamb, “strength” and ‘‘ power” occur (R. v. 12), and 
“‘ salvation to God” and “to the Lamb,” at R. vii. το. Similar 
rejoicings take place in heaven now, “ because the accuser of our 
brethren is cast forth.” ‘ Brethren” in the O.T. and generally 
in the N.T. denote the children of Israel. The saints of 
heaven were, at the time of the Ascension, of Hebrew origin. 
Satan appears as the accuser in the Book of Job. He appears 
moreover with the “sons of God,” standing before the Lord. 
The sons of God represent Hebrews (see Gen. vi. 2; Job 1.6f.; 
Osee i. 10; 1 Jhn. iii. 1). ‘‘ Day and night” means cease- 
lessly—ceaseless accusations. 


THE ROMAN THEME as 


Ν > ν. 37 > 4 as. - nA 3? , κ᾿ 
Il. Καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐνίκησαν αὐτὸν διὰ τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀρνίου καὶ 
é Ν A 
διὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς μαρτυρίας αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἠγάπησαν τὴν 
Ἀ -“ ΕἾ 
ψυχὴν αὐτῶν ἄχρι θανάτου. 


11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word 
of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death. 


*Evixnoay occurs at R. v. 5, when the root of David ‘hath 
conquered ”’ to open the book. The verb vixda, “ἴο conquer,” 
generally connotes martyrdom in this Book (see R. ii. 7, iil. 21). 
_ Τῆς μαρτυρίας αὐτῶν, “ of their testimony,” also connotes mar- 
tyrdom (see vi. 9 notes). ‘* And they loved not their lives unto 
death,’’ conveys the same meaning. ‘‘ He that shall lose his 
life for me shall find it”’ (Matt. x. 39). And ‘‘ He that loveth 
his life shall lose it” (Jhn. xii. 25). 

In this preface to the Roman theme, which goes back to the 
Nazarene Church, the martyrs are Hebrews, SS. Peter, Paul, 
Stephen, James, and many others. They ‘‘ overcame” by the 
merits of the blood of the Lamb, without which they would 
have shed their blood in vain. They “ washed their robes and 
have made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (R. vii. 
14). They exemplify the sufferings of the Woman—the early 
Church. 


12. Διὰ τοῦτο εὐφραίνεσθε, οὐρανοὶ καὶ ot ἐν αὐτοῖς 
σκηνοῦντες:" οὐαὶ τῇ γῇ καὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ ὅτι κατέβη ὃ 
διάβολος πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔχων θυμὸν μέγαν, εἰδὼς. ὅτι ὀλίγον 

πον τ τῳ 
καιρὸν ἔχει. 
12, Therefore rejoice O heavens and you that dwell therein. Woe to the 


earth and to the sea, because the devil is come down unto you, having 
great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time. 


(8. -- τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν.) 

Dr. Swete notices σκηνοῦντες applied to heaven dwellers as 
opposed to κατοικοῦντες, the earth dwellers (see R. xi. 10). The 
former word is used of God’s dwelling with the martyrs— 
σκηνώσει ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς at R. vii. 15 (see R. xiii. 6, τοὺς ἐν τῷ 
οὐρανῷ σκηνοῦντας). This is Jewish symbolism from σκηνή, 
“a tent,’ or tabernacle. The saints of heaven rejoice, and 
warn the earth—‘‘ τῇ yy”’—that is the Roman Empire, and 
the sea, mankind generally (R. viii. 8-10), that the devil is 
coming upon them in great wrath. Because he has been cast 
down from heaven to earth, and knows that he has but a short 
time. He knows that the earth will perish, and that at the day 
of judgment he and his angels will be cast into everlasting fire 
(Matt. xxv. 41; see also R. xx. 9). 

18 


~ 


274 THE REVELATION 


13. Καὶ ore εἶδεν ὁ δράκων ὅτι ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν γῆν, 
ἐδίωξεν τὴν γυναῖκα ἥτις ἔτεκεν τὸν ἄρσενα. 


13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he perse- 
cuted the woman who brought forth the male child. 


Here the meaning of the Woman is further explained. It is 
the Church Militant. The mind of the Seer is still on the 
Mother Church of Jerusalem, which contained all the living 
relatives of our Lord and His Apostles. We go back again to 
the history of the Nazarene Church, begun at R. xii. 6, when — 
the Woman fled into the desert and was fed 1,260 days. Tov 
ἄρσενα, ‘the male child,” does not agree with dppeva, the 
“man child,” at R. xii. 5. Considering the Seer’s care in the 
choice of concordant words to explain his meaning, Dr. Swete 
is probably right in putting dpoev at xii. 5 (Codices A.C.). 
The same ‘‘ child” is clearly in view in both verses. 


14. Kai ἐδόθησαν τῇ γυναικὶ δύο πτέρυγες τοῦ ἀετοῦ τοῦ 
μεγάλου, ἵνα πέτηται εἰς τὴν ἔρημον εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτῆς, 
ὅπου τρέφεται ἐκεῖ καιρὸν καὶ καιροὺς καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ 
ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ ὄφεως. 

14. And there was given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, that 


she might fly into the desert to her place, where she is nourished for a time 
and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 


The Seer is careful to show that he refers to the Woman of 
verse 6—Mother Church. He practically repeats the wording 
of verse 6. But instead of saying that she was fed for 1,260 
days, in the desert, he says that she was fed for a time—a year, 
and times—two years, and half a time—half a year. In all 
three and a half years, or forty-two months, or 1,260 days. The 
Jews counted thirty days to a month. The prophet Daniel 
referring to the fall of Jerusalem, symbolises the same period, 
in the same words, “It should be unto a time and times and 
half a time ”’ (xii. 7). 

The verbal system of the Seer is not followed in the transla- 
tion, for’a desert is a place devoid of vegetation, whereas a 
wilderness may mean overgrowth or rank vegetation (see 
R. xii. 6, notes). The Woman is given two wings of a great 
eagle to fly from the serpent—rod ὅφεως. Dragons had wings, 
but serpents had none; hence the change of symbolism. 
Wings enabled the Woman to escape the wingless serpent. 
So in Exodus, after the flight of Israel from Egypt, God says, 
“41 have carried you upon the wings of eagles ”’ (xix. 4). The 
woman fled to the highlands of Pella, across the Jordan, where 


THE ROMAN THEME 275 


she was protected by King Agrippa, an ally of the Romans 
(Euseb., H. E. iii. 5). 


\- 


15. Καὶ ἔβαλεν ὁ ὃ ὄφις ἐκ τοῦ «στόματος αὐτοῦ ὀπίσω τῆς 
γυναικὸς ὕδωρ ὡς ποταμόν, ἵνα αὐτὴν ποταμοφόρητον 


ποιήσῃ. 


15. And the serpent cast out of his mouth, after the woman, water as it 
were a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the river, 


The serpent—Satan, aimed at cutting off the flight of the 
early Church. His agents, the Roman legions, streamed into 
Palestine from various quarters and flooded the country with 
soldiers. This symbolism is taken from Isaias, ‘‘ Therefore 
behold the Lord will bring upon them the waters of the river 
strong and many, the King of the Assyrians and all his glory, 
and he shall come up over all his channels and shall overflow 
all his banks” (Isa. viii. 7). And Jeremias, ‘‘ Behold there 
come up waters out of the north, and they shall be as an over- 
flowing torrent, and they shall cover the land and all that is 
therein, the city and the inhabitants thereof, then the men 
shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl, at the 
noise of the marching of arms, and of his soldiers, and the 
rushing of his chariots” (xlvii. 2, 3). 


16. Kat ἐβοήθησεν ἡ ἡ γῆ τῇ γυναικί, καὶ ἤνοιξεν ἡ ἡ γὴ τὸ 
στόμα αὐτῆς καὶ κατέπιεν τὸν ποταμὸν ὃν ἔβαλεν ὁ δράκων 
ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ. 


16. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth 
and swallowed up the river, which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 


The earth stands for the enemies of the Church. In this 
context it stands for both Jews and Romans. 

The Jews drove back the army of Cestius, the Roman general 
who invaded the city of Jerusalem at the beginning of Nero’s 
war. It was then, as Josephus tells us, that “ many of the most 
eminent of the Jews swam away from the city, as from a ship 
when it was going to sink”’ (“‘ Wars,” II. xx.). The Nazarenes 
had been warned by our Lord of this time of desolation 
(Luke xxi. 20). Thus was the opportunity given to that 
Church to depart out. But for the scattered Christians of 
Judza a further opportunity was given by the arrest of the 
army of Vespasian before the walls of Jotapata. Vespasian 
would quickly have overrun the country of Judza, dealing 


4 


276 THE REVELATION 


death to Jew and Christian alike, but that he was stopped by 
the strategy of Josephus. Josephus, the historian, and leader of 
the Jewish forces, concentrated his army in the strong fortress 
of Jotapata, so that Vespasian was obliged to halt his troops, 
and besiege Jotapata. ‘This siege occupied the time and atten- 
tion of the Roman army for forty-seven days. In the mean- 
while the Christians of all parts of Judea, now doubly warned, 
were enabled to make their way to Pella. In this way the 
earth helped the woman to escape, by swallowing up the river. 

But the political condition of Rome caused a still longer 
cessation of hostilities in Judza. When Nero died in July, 
A.D. 68, Galba, Otho and Vitellus in turn assumed the purple. 
Then Vespasian was proclaimed Emperor about the end of the 
year 69. There was a cessation of the war for many months 
from the death of Nero till the proclamation of Vespasian, 
during which time Christians found their way to Pella, before 
the siege of Jerusalem began. 


bee ’ ε ’ ϑ. ἃ Lal ’ ‘ > aA 
17. Καὶ ὠργίσθη ὁ δράκων ἐπὶ τῇ γυναικί, καὶ ἀπῆλθεν 
ποιῆσαι πόλεμον μετὰ τῶν λοιπῶν τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτῆς, τῶν 
τηρούντων τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ἐχόντων τὴν μαρτυρίαν 
Ἰησοῦ. 
17. And the dragon was angry against the woman, and went to make war 


with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have 
the testimony of Jesus Christ. 


‘Christ’ is not in the Greek above. It is in the Vulgate. 
Satan, enraged at the escape of the Mother Church of 
Jerusalem, went off to make war with the rest of her seed. 
_ Here the identity of the Woman is clearly established. She is 
the Church. Her seed are those “who keep the commandments 
of God, and have the testimony of Jesus,” evidently Christians. 
The Seer still has Genesis in mind, “ the seed of the woman” 
(see R. xii. 7, notes). Here τὴν μαρτυρίαν ᾿Ιησοῦ corresponds 
with the same words at R. xix. 10, where “‘ The testimony of 
Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”” An expression which connotes 
the Ecclesia docens. 


18. Kai ἐστάθη ἐπὶ τὴν ἄμμον τῆς θαλάσσης. 
18. And he stood upon the sand of the sea, 


Satan, baffled and enraged, paused on the shore and surveyed 
the sea of life (see R. viil. 8, notes). He takes no interest in 


THE ROMAN THEME 277 


any other sea. The Seer, as we shall find presently, has the 
sea of Daniel in view. ‘‘ And four great beasts, different one 
from another, came up out of the sea” (Dan. vii. 3). ‘* These 
four great beasts are four kingdoms, which shall arise out of the 
earth” (Dan. vii. 17); earthly kingdoms came up out of the 
sea. Satan surveys the “sea,” thirsting for revenge. His aim 
is to destroy the kingdom of Christ. Rome was the centre of 
the sea of life. His outlook shows him Rome persecuting the 
seed of the woman, accordingly he goes to Rome to form an 
alliance with paganism (next chapter). It is a very fine 
dramatic picture. 


CHAPTER XIII 


THE Preface to the Roman theme is finished. The scene of 
Revelation now passes to Rome, where SS. Peter and Paul 
had preached and died for the faith. Soon after the Nazarene 
Church fled to Pella, the mantle of primacy fell upon Rome. 
In point of numbers it was a great Church having adherents 
even in the palace of Nero. For three years and a half perse- 
cution took its toll of blood, yet failed to extirpate the Church 
of Rome. It was a primatical Church by reason of its location 
in the capital of the Empire, and by reason of its founder 
S. Peter, whose body with S. Paul’s lay buried at Rome. It 
was a conspicuously faithful Church. In the year A.D. 57 or 
58 S. Paul wrote an epistle to the Romans in which he says, 
“1 give thanks to my God, through Jesus Christ, for you all, 
because your faith is spoken of in the whole world ” (Rom. i. 8). 
Satan saw in Cesar worship and persecution the looked-for 
instruments of his vengeance upon the seed of the Woman. 


“It was no mere servile adulation which led to the deification 
of the emperors. The emperor was God, and divine honours were 
paid to him because he was the visible symbol of imperial Rome, 
making manifest its power and permanence. And it was a real 
feeling of worship that raised in every house the altar to the divus 
impevatoy, and spread over the whole Roman Empire, jostling aside 
its myriad creeds, the one faith in Rome, in its power, in its eternity, 
and its mysterious strength. It was in this way that paganism and 
Rome became almost synonymous, and that Christianity and Rome 
were foes from the first” (Dr. T. M. Lindsay, “ Ency. Brit.,” 
Christianity). 


278 THE REVELATION \ 


1. Kai εἶδον ἐκ τῆς θαλάσσης θηρίον ἀναβαῖνον, ἔχον 
κέρατα δέκα καὶ κεφαλὰς ἑπτά, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν κεράτων αὐτοῦ 
δέκα διαδήματα, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτοῦ ὀνόματα 
βλασφημίας. 


1. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having seven heads and 
ten horns, and upon his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names of 
blasphemy. 


This beast was seen before at R. xi. 7, where he appears as 
“ τὸ Onpiov,” the well-known fourth beast of Daniel (Dan. vii. 7). 
It was explained to Daniel that “ The fourth beast shall be the 
fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be greater than all the 
kingdoms” (vii. 23). This fourth beast was generally 
recognised as the Roman Empire. Hebrews of the first 
century would: identify this beast with Rome. It came out of 
the Gentile Sea, as did the beast of Daniel (see Isa. lvii. 20). 
And it had ten horns like Daniel’s beast. Daniel was told 
*‘the ten horns of the same kingdom shall be ten kings” 
(vil. 24). An angel explains to the Seer, ‘‘ And the ten horns, 
which thou sawest are ten kings” (R. xvii. 12). In token of 
their being kings, they are crowned with regal diadems. Horns 
are scriptural symbols of power (see R. xii. 3). They are here 
explained to be kings. The ten kings play an important part 
in the Roman theme in turn as allies and enemies of Rome. 

The seven heads are an essential part of the beast. They are 
the line of the Caesars. The number seven covers the whole 
dynasty. An angel informs us that the seven heads are seven 
mountains upon which the woman sitteth, and they are seven 
kings (R. xvii. 9). 

This Woman was Babylon (R. xvii. 5), the mystic name of 
Rome amongst the Hebrew Christians, and Rome was seated 
on seven mountains. We are thus led to conclude that the 
Beast represents the Czsars. That explains the “names of 
blasphemy” on the heads of the Beast. Divine honours were 
paid to the Roman Emperors. Amongst the Divine titles 
assumed by the Cesars, found in inscriptions at Ephesus, are 
αὐτοκράτωρ, “almighty,” and Καῖσαρ @eov, “ Lord God,” Θεοῦ 
Nepova viwvds, and Σεβαστός (Hick’s “Ephesus,” pp. 150, 
154, 162). 

Those who blasphemed God meant, in the Jewish sense, 
those who usurped his prerogative, not blasphemous swearers 
in the modern sense. When the man sick with the palsy 
was let down through the roof, Jesus said to him: “Son, thy 
sins are forgiven thee. And some of the scribes were sitting 
there, and thinking in their hearts: why does this man speak 
thus? He blasphemeth. Who can forgive sins, but God 


THE ROMAN THEME 279 


only ?” (Mark ii. 5, 7). So when Jesus, in the Temple, said to 
the Jews: “I and the Father are one,” they took up stones to 
stone Him. And He asked them for which of His good works 
they stoned Him. “The Jews answered him, For a good work 
we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that thou, 
being a man, makest thyself God” (Jhn x. 30, 33). So also, © 
when Jesus was brought before Caiphas, the high priest, and 
said: ‘‘ Hereafter you shall see the Son of man sitting on the 
right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of 
heaven. Then the high priest rent his garments, saying, He 
hath blasphemed ” (Matt. xxvi. 64, 65). The Jews said that 
when a man made himself out to be God, it was blasphemy ; 
that was their idea of blasphemy. 


> > 
2. Kat τὸ θηρίον ὃ εἶδον ἦν ὅμοιον παρδάλει, Kai οἱ πόδες 
αὐτοῦ ὡς ἄρκου, καὶ τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ ὡς στόμα λέοντος. 
Καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ δράκων τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν θρόνον 
αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξουσίαν μεγάλην. 
2. And the beast which I saw was like to a leopard, and his feet were as 


the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon 
gave him his own strength and great power. 


Daniel’s fourth beast is represented as coming up out of the 
sea after three other great beasts, the first, a lioness, represent- 
ing the Babylonian Empire; the second, a bear, representing 
the Persian Empire; and the third a leopard, put for the 
Empire of the Greeks. The fourth beast, the Roman Empire, 
took possession of all these kingdoms; “ and shall devour the 
whole earth, and shall tread it down and break it in pieces ” 
(Dan. vii. 23). In continuation, therefore, of his symbolism of 
the Roman Empire, the Seer represents it as made up of the 
empires it had devoured. It is described as combining in its 
own person the qualities of swiftness, strength, and ferocity, 
found in the leopard, the bear, and the lion. Thus he rivets 
Daniel’s symbols on the beast to show that it is the Roman 
Empire. We have had “the teeth of lions” ascribed to the 
Roman legions at R. ix. 8. 

And they had over them Apollyon, “ the angel of the bottom- 
less pit” (R. ix. rr). So, here, the dragon is shown as covering 
the Beast with “his own strength and great power.” In the 
Greek, above, the dragon “gave him his own throne” as well 
as his own strength and great power. ‘“ His own throne” is 
not in the Vulgate. It carries out the idea of the dragon’s 
power on earth, and the extent of his help to the Cesars. 
See 6 Θρόνος tod catava, referring to Rome, at R. ii. 13. 


280 THE REVELATION 


\ / > a“ Δ 3 A ε 3 re > 
3. Καὶ μίαν ἐκ τῶν κεφαλῶν αὐτοῦ ὡς ἐσφαγμένην eis 
θανάτον, καὶ ἡ πληγὴ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ ἐθεραπεύθη- Καὶ 
ἐθαύμασεν ὅλη ἡ γῆ ὀπίσω τοῦ θηρίου. 


3. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death ; and his 
deadly wound was healed. And all the earth was in admiration after the 
beast. 


(9. = ἐθαυμάσθη.) 

The Beast which rose from the sea had seven heads, which 
we are told at R. xvii. g are seven kings. So far they repre- 
sent the dynasty of the Cesars and are indefinite. But the 
Seer fixes our attention on one particular head or king. And 
he saw it wounded to death and its deadly wound was healed, 
and all the earth “ ἐθαύμασεν ᾿""---““ wondered.”” This brings up 
the superstition of the year 67, that Nero would be slain by the 
sword and come to life again. We have already described this 
superstition, its nature and extent, in the Introduction (p. go). 
The only objection to it here is that, as a matter of fact, Nero’s 
wound was not healed. Could S. John in his Revelation make 
use of an erroneous superstition ἢ 9. Jerome, whose authority 
on the Scriptures is acknowledged, says: ‘‘ It is the custom of 
Scriptural historians to declare many things according to the 
popular belief of the time” (In Matt. xiv. 8). Again: “ Many 
things are set forth in Scripture according to contemporary 
opinion, and not according to intrinsic truth” (In ae XXVill. 10). 
The Seer wished his Christian brethren to identify this head of 
the beast, and made use of a popular belief for that purpose. 
It is the first of many efforts to bring home to the reader the 
name of Nero. 

The wound is described later, at verse 14, “as the wound by 
the sword "--- μαχαίρης, the short sword used by the Romans in 
Nero’s time, to bring it into line with the current superstition. 
Μάχαιρα may be either a knife carried in a sheath at the girdle 
(Jhn. xviii. 10), or a sword (Hastings, D.B., iv. 634). At 
verse 10 it is predicted of Nero that “he must be killed by the 
sword.” The Greek word used for wounded, above, ἐσφαγμένην, 
comes from σφάξω, to slay with a knife, or short sword. 

’"E@avpacev, translated “admiration,” above, comes from 
θαυμάζω, “ to wonder,” “ to be astonished.” The same word is 
translated ‘‘ wonder”’ at R. xvii. 6and 7. Superstitious wonder 
was the attitude of the world towards this prediction of the 
soothsayers regarding Nero. But “admiration” in old English 
was sometimes put for “‘ wonder.” 


THE ROMAN THEME 281 


‘ ua an , ν » Ν 3 
4. Καὶ προσεκύνησαν τῷ δράκοντι, ὅτι ἔδωκεν τὴν ἐξου- 
, “ lal 
σίαν τῷ θηρίῳ, καὶ προσεκύνησαν τῷ θηρίῳ, λέγοντες, Tis 
ν an a lal 
ὅμοιος τῷ θηρίῳ, καὶ τίς δύναται πολεμῆσαι μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ. 


4. And they adored the dragon which gave power to the beast ; and they _ 
adored the beast, saying, Who is like to the beast ? and who shall be able 
to fight with him? 


And they, ἡ γῆ, “the earth,” in the last verse, that is non- 
Christians, adored the dragon, who gave the Beast ‘his own 
strength and great power” (R. xiii. 2). They adored the 
dragon by idol worship as well as by Caesar worship; they 
adored “devils, and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone 
and wood, which neither can see nor hear nor walk” 
(R. ix. 20, where see notes). 

“ΤΊ was the unanimous sentiment of the Church that demons 
were the authors, the patrons, and the objects of idolatry. They 
lurked in the temples, pronounced oracles, and were even 
allowed to perform miracles. The Christians considered any 
respect shown to idol worship as a homage to the demon and a 
rebellion against God” (Gibbon). 

Cesar worship had spread over the Empire in the time of 
Nero. It was especially prevalent in the wealthy and sycophant 
cities of S. John’s district of Asia Minor. There were temples 
to the Augusti at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos. 

‘“‘They adored the beast, saying, Who is like to the beast ἢ 
and who shall be able to fight with him?” These references to 
the military resources and fighting strength of the Beast help to 
identify it with the Roman Empire. There was no power which 
could fight against it, except Parthia. 

The exclamation, “‘ Who is like to thee?” belongs to God 
(Exod. xv. 11). Its use in connection with the worship of the 
Beast is an illustration of the blasphemy of Czsar worship. 


5. Kat ἐδόθη αὐτῷ στόμα λαλοῦν μεγάλα καὶ βλασφη- 
μίας, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ἐξουσία ποιῆσαι μῆνας τεσσεράκοντα 
’ 
δύο. 


5. And there was given to him a mouth, speaking great things and 
blasphemies ; and power was given to him to act forty-two months. 


Compare this with Daniel vii. 20: ‘‘ And a mouth speaking 
great things,” also vii. 25: ‘‘And he shall speak words against 
the High One. . . . And they shall be delivered into his hand 
until a time, and times, and half a time’’—forty-two months. 


282 THE REVELATION 


The prophecy of Daniel related to the destruction of the 
Temple. . 

The prophecy of the Apocalypse, in this Roman piece which 
is now being put before us, refers to Nero’s persecution of the 
Christians at Rome. It is quite true that Nero was equally 
responsible for the Jewish war and the destruction of the 
Temple; but we have had those events related to us in the first 
theme, and in the preface of this second one; besides, they are 
spoken of quite differently. At R. xii. 6, we are told that “‘ the 
woman ”’ fled into the wilderness, where she had a place pre- 
pared 1,260 days. The devil failed in this attack, and was angry 
with “the woman,” and went fo make war with the rest of her 
seed. The scene of the Apocalypse is transferred to Rome, to 
Nero’s persecution. We are told that power was given to the 
Beast “ to act forty-two months,” and later, verse 7, “‘ And it 
was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome 
them.” The period of time is the same—about three years and 
a half in both cases—but the events related in this chapter and 
in Chapter xii. are different: “the woman”’ escaped the dragon; 
“the saints,’ on the contrary, are delivered into his power. 

It is a strange and mystic coincidence that these two great 
events, the first persecution and the fall of Jerusalem, should 
last the same time, overlap each other, in the same century, and 
have Nero for their common author. 


» »“» , 
6. Kai ἤνοιξεν τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ εἰς βλασφημίας πρὸς τὸν 
Θεόν, βλασφημῆσαι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν σκηνὴν αὐτοῦ 
wn ~ a 
καὶ τοὺς EV τῷ οὐρανῷ σκηνοῦντας. 


6. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme 
his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. 


Βλασφημίας, “ blasphemies,” is derived from two Greek words, 
βλάπειν, “to injure,” and φήμη, “reputation.” We have seen 
at verse I, above, what Hebrew Christians thought of blasphemy. 
Nero, in particular, on his return from the Olympian games, 
was received with many expressions due to God alone. 
Παντοκράτωρ, “the Almighty,” the name with which the saints 
and angels of heaven salute the enthroned God at R. xix. 6, 
was inscribed on his effigy. Nero allowed himself to be adored 
as God, thus blaspheming the name of God; and the emperors 
permitted temples to be erected to themselves as gods, thus 
blaspheming the Tabernacle of God and the saints and angels 
of God. 

The Hebrew brethren of S. John understood these things, 


THE ROMAN THEME 283 


and could, moreover, appreciate the clues introduced into the 
vision by the Seer, with the design of leading up to the identity 
of the wounded head of the Beast. 


7. Kat ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ποιῆσαι πόλεμον μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων καὶ 
~ 5 4 ue 5 ’ὔὕ 3 nw > , > A a“ 2 
νικῆσαι αὐτούς, Kal ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ἐξουσία ἐπὶ πᾶσαν φυλὴν 
ἈΝ nA 
καὶ λαὸν καὶ γλῶσσαν Kai ἔθνος. 


7. And it was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome 
them ; and power was given him over every tribe, and people, and tongue, 
and nation. 


“It was given to him” means that God permitted him to 
war upon the saints and overcome them. Great historic 
figures, good and bad, fulfil the designs of Providence. God 
said to Pharo, ‘‘ And therefore have I raised thee that I may 
show my power in thee, and my name may be spoken of 
throughout all the earth” (Exod. ix. 16; see also Rom. ix. 17). 
“Τῶν ayiwv,” “the saints,” is a word denoting Christians in this 
Book, as commonly in the N.T. ““ Ποιῆσαι πόλεμον " refers 
back to ““ποιῆσαι μῆνας τεοσεράκοντα dvo” at verse 5, and 
explains its meaning. Tlovéw means to do something during 
the forty-two months specified at verse 5. Here it is shown 
that the action referred to is to make war on the Christians. 
Forty-two months was the duration of Nero’s persecution. 

** And power was given him over every tribe,” etc., indicates 
that the world-wide power of the Roman Empire is in view. 


ὃ, Καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτὸν πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ 
ω “ - ΄“ “ 
τῆς γῆς, ὧν οὐ γέγραπται τὸ ὄνομα ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τῆς ζωῆς 
τοῦ ἀρνίου τοῦ ἐσφαγμένου ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. 


8. And all that dwell upon the earth adored him, whose names are not 
written in the book of life of the Lamb, which was slain from the beginning 
of the world. 


(S. has Τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ.) 

** And all that dwell upon the earth adored” the Beast— 
Κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς---α phrase which recurs frequently.— 
denotes the non-Christian inhabitants of the Roman Empire, 
those “‘ whose names are not written in the book of life of the 
Lamb.” The Roman legions carried to the furthest boundaries 
of the Empire, which stands for the whole earth in this Book, 
sacred standards on which the image of the reigning emperor 


284 THE REVELATION 


was painted as the symbol of their tutelary god (Modestius 
De. ree. milit. Vocab.). Artabanus, King of Parthia, when 
reconciled to Caligula, adored (adoravit) the Roman standard 
(Suet. Calig. 14). Josephus tells us that the Jews begged 
Pontius Pilate to kill them rather than hoist the ensigns of 
Tiberius in Jerusalem, knowing that they would be expected to 
adore them (“ Wars,” II. ix. 2, 3). Tacitus calls the ensigns 
and the eagles 0 fle legionum numina (Anls. I. 39). 

The Book of Life is mentioned at R. iii. 5, in connection with 
those who “overcome” in the Church of Sardis. It is mentioned 
again at R. xvii. 8, in connection with the Beast, ‘‘ whose names 
are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the 
world;” where καταβολῆς κόσμου is translated ‘ foundation 
of the world,” as against ‘‘ beginning of the world,” here. The 
Book of Life is opened on the day of judgment, and all who 
are not found written in it are cast into the pool of fire 
(R. xx. 12, 15). The continuity of the whole Book is evident. 


¥ ¥ > 
9. Et τις ἔχει οὖς, ἀκουσάτω. 


9. If any man has an ear, let him hear. 


This sentence belongs to the next verse, which is one of the 
three cryptic, but distinctive, references to Nero in the Book. 
It refers to the manner of his death. It is preluded by the 
warning addressed to the reader at the end of each of the Seven 
Letters. The next similar test question refers to the number of 
the Beast. It is preluded by the words, ‘‘ Here is wisdom ”’ 
(R. xiii. 18). And the third refers to Nero’s position in the list 
of Emperors. It is introduced by the words, “Here is the 
understanding that hath wisdom ” (R. xvii. 9, 10). In these 
three places particular attention is requested, suggesting a 
problem that requires careful study. They are the three key 
references to Nero. ‘If any man has an ear to hear” takes us 
to the Gospel of S. Luke. The question at issue is the under- 
standing of a cypher, on all fours with a parable. As if it were 
said, if one may be allowed the paraphrase, To you it is given 
to know the mystery of the Beast by means of Scriptural 
symbolism, but to the rest in cypher—that seeing they may not 
see, and hearing they may not understand (see Luke viii. το). 


THE ROMAN THEME 285 


¥ > > 7 > > , ε ; » 
10. Ei τις εἰς αἰχμαλωσίαν, εἰς αἰχμαλωσίαν ὑπάγει" εἴ 
Lal lal ’ 
τις ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτενεῖ, δεῖ αὐτὸν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκταν- 
an e wet ε 
θῆναι. “Od€ ἐστιν ἡ ὑπομονὴ καὶ ἡ πίστις τῶν ἁγίων. 


to. He that shall lead into captivity shall go into captivity ; he that shall 
kill by the sword must be killed by the sword. Here is the patience and 
the faith of the saints. 


When these lines were written, the Jewish war was in pro- 
gress. Hebrew Christians would naturally expect that Nero 
would lead the Jewish race into captivity. The fulfilment of 
prophecies was in his hands. Our Lord foretold the captivity. 
** And they shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led 
away captives into all nations” (Luke xxi. 24). The Seer drew 
attention to one head of the Beast as wounded and healed, a 
mark of Nero; to the same head blasphemously adored as 
God, another mark of Nero. Now he endows him (αὐτὸν) with 
a further mark of Nero, seen prophetically. ‘‘ He that shall kill 
by the sword must be killed by the sword.” This shortly came 
to pass. Nero was killed by the sword on the gth June in the 
next year—68—as here predicted. 

** Here is the patience and the faith of the saints,” τῶν ἁγίων, 
1.6., Christians. Their patience is founded on their faith in the 
promised protection of Christ, often renewed in the N.T., and 
confirmed by the promised death of Nero by the sword, and the 
rumour that he would go into captivity, into the abyss. For 
** patience” see R. i. g; il. 2, 3; and R. xiv. 12, notes. 


II. Kai εἶδον ἄλλο θηρίον ἀναβαῖνον ἐκ τῆς γῆς. Kat 
> - 
εἶχεν κέρατα δύο ὅμοια ἀρνίῳ, καὶ ἐλάλει ὡς δράκων. 


11. And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two 
horns, like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. 


Kingdoms arise from the sea in the O.T. Hence this beast 
which came out of the earth is not a Kingdom. ‘“ He had two 
horns like a lamb.” But he was not a lamb, because he spoke 
as a dragon, that is, as Satan, the dragon, spoke. The sym- 
bolism of horns requires special notice here. In ancient days, 
amongst shepherd people, rams were symbols of power. Eight- 
horned rams and sheep with two or three pairs of horns existed. 
A ten-horned ram, like the Beast, would represent symbolically 
a great power. It was the peculiarity of lambs of multihorned 
sheep that they had only two horns. The ram is lord of the flock, 
the lamb is his offspring. The relationship between the first 


286 THE REVELATION 


Beast and the second is thus indicated. The first Beast, it is 
allowed, represents, not an individual, but the Imperial power. - 
We may safely infer that the second beast is put, not for an in- 
dividual, but for a kindred and inferior power. We are not left 
long in doubt as to the meaning of the beast from the earth, τῆς 
γῆς, ἴ.6., the pagan Roman Empire. We are told that he derived 
his power from the first Beast, and used it to seduce men to make 
an image of the Beast and adore it. He exercised the functions 
of the pagan priesthood. Several indications of this are given. 
Moreover we are shown the two beasts working together through- 
out the whole period of Czsar worship. They are allied with 
Satan in resisting the advance of the Kingdom of Christ. At 
R. xvi. 13, these three, the dragon, the Beast, and the false prophet 
gather the foes of Christianity to battle against God. That the 
beast from the earth and the false prophet are identical is plainly 
stated by the Seer at R. xix. 20, when the Beast and the false 
prophet are cast into hell together. They fell together con- 
quered by the Kingdom of Christ. 

“ Prophet”? is an expression which indicates priesthood. 
‘“* The historical meaning of nabi (the Hebrew word for prophet) 
established by biblical usage is ‘interpreter and mouthpiece of 
God.’ The Greek προφήτης (from προ-φάναι, to speak for or in 
the name of someone) translates the Hebrew word accurately ” 
(Jean Calés, S.J., the Cath. Encyc.). 

The researches of Dean Stanley on the Jewish Church, and 
Professor Fairbairn on Prophecy, have shown that the word 
“ prophet,” in its Scriptural meaning, does not necessarily imply 
the gift of prediction. The word simply meant one who spoke 
by supernatural impulse, the mouthpiece, as it were, of God. 

Classical writers used the expression in the same sense. 
Apollo was called the prophet of Jupiter, because Jupiter spoke 
through him. Pythia, the priestess of Apollo, was called, in 
like manner, the prophetess of Apollo, and her attendants, the 
prophets of Pythia. 

This was also the Hebrew use of the word “ prophet.” It is 
retained in the Greek of the Septuagint, and by the writers of 
the New Testament. The Rev. T. L. Scott sums up our know- 
ledge of the nature of prophecy in his book, ‘The Visions of the 
Apocalypse ”’ (1893). He says: 


‘“‘ The New Testament use of the word ‘ prophet’ and ‘ prophecy’ 
is entirely consistent with what we have found in the Old Testa- 
ment, for here also we find the word ‘prophet’ applied to two 
classes of persons, first to those who hold an office which constitutes 
them God’s spokesmen, and secondly to those who, whether they 
have or have not a regular and permanent official appointment, yet 


THE ROMAN THEME 287 


are on special occasions moved by Divine impulse to declare God’s 
will” (p. 18). 


‘The chief priests of idolatry held an office which made them 
the spokesmen of the gods. By mechanical devices, or by 
ventriloquism, they voiced the oracles. The earliest oracle was 
derived from “yy,” “the earth.” The Delphic oracle was 
originally of that character. Appropriately, the false prophet 
came out of the earth, ἐκ τῆς γῆς, and spoke asa dragon. He 
spoke as a dragon because he was the mouthpiece or prophet 
of the dragon. The early Christians looked upon the oracles 
of the temples as diabolical manifestations and all heathen 
temple-jugglery as pure Satanism. The sacrifices of the 
heathen priesthood were looked upon as offerings to the devil 
(see R. ix. 20, notes). “‘ They sacrificed to devils and not to 
God ” (Deut. xxxii. 17). The gravamen of the charge against 
Rome in this theme is Cesar worship. The Seer sets forth 
judicially the accusation, and then describes the punishment. 
The pagan priesthood must be included in a description of 
Cesar worship. 


12. Kat τὴν ἐξουσίαν τοῦ πρώτου θηρίου πᾶσαν ποιεῖ 
ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ποιεῖ τὴν γῆν καὶ τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ κατοι- 
κοῦντας ἵνα προσκυνήσουσιν τὸ θηρίον τὸ πρῶτον, οὗ 
ἐθεραπεύθη ἡ πληγὴ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ. 


12. And he executed all the powers of the former beast in his sight, and 
he caused the earth and them that dwell therein to adore the first beast, 
whose deadly wound was healed. 


“The former Beast,” was the Roman Emperor. Pontifex 
Maximus at Rome, and deified abroad. 
Gibbon says: 


“The office of supreme pontiff, which from the time of Numa to 
that of Augustus had always been exercised by one of the most 
eminent of the senators, was at length united to the imperial 
dignity ” (“ Decline and Fall,” c. xx.). 

«The ministers of polytheism, both in Rome and in the provinces, 
were, for the most part, men of noble birth and of affluent fortune, 
who received as an honourable distinction the care of a celebrated 
temple, or of a public sacrifice; exhibited very frequently at their 
own expense the sacred games . . . and whilst they acknowledged 
the supreme jurisdiction of the Senate, of the College of Pontiffs, 
and of the Emperor, these civil magistrates contented themselves 
with the easy task of maintaining in peace and dignity the general 
worship of mankind ” (“ Decline and Fall,” c. xv.). 


288 THE REVELATION 


To these men the Emperor delegated both temporal and 
spiritual power. The Asiarchs, or chief priests of Asia, had 
magisterial powers over life and death in all matters relating to 
religion. They “ executed all the powers of the former Beast in 
his sight”; ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, which may be rendered “ under his 
supervision.” They held enquiries in the presence of the 
Imperial representative ; and the “living” bust of Cesar 
looked down upon the proceedings. 

The imperial edicts of persecution were laws concerning 
religion which came into the hands of the sacerdotal magistrates 
for execution. The priesthood coerced the earth, and those 
“ἐν αὐτῇ κατοικοῦντας," a Greek formula used in this book for 
the enemies of the Kingdom of Christ, to adore the first beast. 
Those Christians, and only those, who fell away under persecu- 
tion, belonged to that class. 

“ The first beast whose deadly wound was healed,” refers, as 
we have seen, to the reigning King, Nero, who was adored as a 
God. 


‘ ~ ~ , Ψ Ὕ A ie a 
13. Kat ποιεῖ σημεῖα μεγάλα, ἵνα καὶ πῦρ ποιῇ ἐκ τοῦ 
οὐρανοῦ καταβαίνειν εἰς τὴν γῆν ἐνώπιον τῶν ἀνθρώπων. 


13. And he did great signs, 580 that he made even fire to come down from 
heaven upon the earth in the sight of men. 


The pagan false prophets pretended to supernatural powers, 
and “did great signs,” like the Egyptian magicians (Exod. vii. 
12 and viii. 7). The priests of the chief Temples had mysterious 
powers, which faded away as Christianity spread. Eusebius 
noticed this (Dum. Evang. L.V). Julian the Apostate admitted 
it (Cyril, Contra Julian, L.vi.). Juvenal refers to it in Satire VI. 
So also Lucan, Lib. IV. Towards the end of the first century 
Plutarch wrote a book about the silence of the oracles. 

Fire coming down from heaven was one of the miracles of 
Elias (3 Kings xviii. 38, 4 Kings i. 10). We have seen in the 
Apocalypse that fire coming down from heaven may mean 
various inflictions (R. viii. 5, 7, 8, xi. 5, xiv. 18, xx. 9). Con- 
juring with fire was one of the stock miracles of Eastern 
magicians. We are expressly told that the dragon gave the 
Beast his own strength and great power (R. xiii. 2). The 
dragon’s strength lay partly in supernatural manifestations. 
Eusebius, quoting Justin, refers to the magic arts of Simon 
Magus (H. E. 11. 13), and of Menander (H. E. iii. 26). 


THE ROMAN THEME 289 


14. Kat πλανᾷ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς διὰ τὰ 
σημεῖα ἃ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ποιῆσαι ἐνώπιον τοῦ θηρίου, λέγων 
τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ποιῆσαι εἰκόνα τῷ θηρίῳ, ὃ 
ἔχει τὴν πληγὴν τῆς μαχαίρης καὶ ἔζησεν. 

14. And he seduced them that dwell on the earth by the signs which 
were given him to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on 


the earth, that they should make an image of the beast which had the 
wound by the sword, and lived. 


(S.= ὃς ἔχει.) 

AtS. ΤΌΠΟ headquarters, Ephesus, magic arts were in vogue. 
The “Edeota γράμματα were well known. When 8. Paul 
preached at Ephesus, c. A.D. 55, “‘ Many of them who had followed 
curious arts, brought together their books and burnt them before 
all” (Acts xix. 19). By means of “signs which were given him 
to do” (i.e., which God permitted), the heathen priesthood 
seduced, τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, pagan idolaters, who 
were easily seduced, telling them to make an image (εἰκόνα) 
of the Beast, ‘which had the wound by the sword and lived.” 
The wound is called “the wound by the sword,” to connect it 
with Nero. Signs done in the sight of the Beast does not 
limit their performance to Rome. The Asiarchs strove to 
popularise Czsar worship in the provinces, by means of signs, 
in the presence of the Imperial representatives and image of 
the Emperor (see xiii. 12, notes). 

“He seduced them that dwell on the earth” goes back to 
“ Satan, who seduceth the whole world” (R. xii. 9). The lamb- 
like beast is a minister of Satan. 


15. Καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ δοῦναι πνεῦμα τῇ εἰκόνι τοῦ θηρίου, 

ἵνα καὶ λαλήσῃ ἡ εἰκὼν τοῦ θηρίου, καὶ ποιήσῃ ἵνα ὅσοι 
‘ “-“ / A 

ἐὰν μὴ προσκυνήσωσιν TH εἰκόνι TOD θηρίου ἀποκτανθῶσιν. 


15. And it was given to him to give life to the image of the beast, and 
that the image of the beast should speak ; and should cause that whosoever 
will not adore the image of the beast, should be slain. 


“To give life to the image of the Beast, and that the image 
of the Beast should speak,” need not be taken quite literally, 
apparent life and animation will satisfy the reading. By adjust- 
ments of light and shade and distance, with the aid of ventrilo- 
quism or speaking tubes and movable lips, it was easy to make 
the image speak. We may suppose that the local authorities 
connived at trickery of this kind, for the sentence went forth from 


TQ 


290 THE REVELATION 


the Beast, and from his image, “ that whosoever will not adore 
the image of the Beast should beslain.” That official sentence 
included all men, high and low. 

“And it was given to him to slay’ means that God permitted 
persecution for the ultimate good of the Church. 


16. Kal ποιεῖ πάντας, τοὺς μικροὺς Kal τοὺς μεγάλους, 
καὶ τοὺς πλουσίους καὶ τοὺς πτωχούς, καὶ τοὺς ἐλευθέρους 
καὶ τοὺς δούλους, ἵνα δῶσιν αὐτοῖς χάραγμα ἐπὶ τῆς χειρὸς 
αὐτῶν τῆς δεξιᾶς ἢ ἐπὶ τὸ μέτωπον αὐτῶν. 

τ6. And he shall make all, both little and great, rich and poor, freemen 
and bondmen, to have a mark in their right hand or on their foreheads. 


99 66 


“lavas,” “all,” indicates that the Czesar worship was binding 
on all ranks throughout the Empire; that every man, from 
Consul to slave, should have a mark in his right hand or fore- 
head. This is symbolism. Roman history, which checks every 
line of this exegesis, knows of no such mark. The Seer is 
writing of the Deified Emperor, and has to make use of 
symbols. The word χάραγμα, translated ‘‘ mark,” was the 
stamp used on the official documents of the Empire in 
Nero’s time in Egypt. Deissmann gives an example: ‘‘ Lif’ 
Αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος Nepova Τραϊανοῦ Σεβαστοῦ Γερμανικοῦ 
Δακικοῦ " (“ Biblical Studies,” p. 242). This title illustrates 
the blasphemy of Nero. At the same time the use of the 
technical name of the stamp, used on Neronian documents, 
forges another link in the chain of evidence, connecting the 
Beast with Nero. 

Eusebius, who lived through the tenth persecution, throws 
light on the meaning of “a mark in the right hand.” He says 
that 


‘¢Edicts were also issued, in which it was ordered that all the 
prelates in every place should first be committed to prison, and 
then by every artifice constrained to offer sacrifice to the gods.” .. . 
“Here one, whilst some forced him to the impure and detestable 
sacrifices, was again dismissed, as if he had sacrificed, although 
this was not the case. There another, though he had not in the 
least approached the altar, not even touched the unholy thing, yet, 
when others said that he had sacrificed, went away, bearing the 
calumny in silence” (H. E., VIII. 2-3). 

*« One was seized by the hands and led to the altar by others, who 
were thrusting the polluted and unhallowed victim into his right 
hand, and then suffered to go again as if he had sacrificed. Another, 
though he had not even touched, when others said that he had 
sacrificed, went away in silence” (“ B.M.,” c. i.). 


THE ROMAN THEME 291 


From which it appears that the act of taking the sacrificial 
meat in the right hand was the test employed. The meat 
stained the right hand, and that mark was the proof of sacrifice, 
the mark of the beast. These things, related by Eusebius, took 
place in the tenth persecution, in the nineteenth year of the 
reign of Diocletian, A.D. 303. 

The mark on the forehead, where all is symbolism, may be 
taken symbolically. It is so taken previously in the Apocalypse, 
which may be for our guidance. At R. vii. 3, when punish- 
ment is about to fall upon the Jews, an angel cries out: 
“ς Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we seal the 
servants of our God in their foreheads.” Then twelve thousand 
of each of the twelve tribes were sealed. This sealing we take 
to be the sign of the cleansing waters of baptism on the fore- 
head. It is the sign of Christianity. It is alluded to again at 
R. ix. 4, where we find the locusts, who came out of the pit, 
commanded that “they should not hurt the grass of the earth 
nor any green thing nor any tree, but only the men who have not 
the sign of God in their foreheads.” The absence of the sign 
from the forehead is put forward in the Jewish theme of the 
Apocalypse as the mark of the non-Christian. In the Roman 
theme it is put forward, in almost the same words, as the mark 
of the pagan destined to destruction. 


\ % ’ ’ > , a “~ > » eghen 3 

17. Kai ἵνα μή τις δύνηται ἀγοράσαι ἢ πωλῆσαι εἰ μὴ ὁ 

ἔχων τὸ χάραγμα, τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θηρίου ἢ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦ 
ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ. 


17. And that no man might buy or sell but he that hath the mark, or the 
name of the beast, or the number of his name. 


The official “ χάραγμα,᾽ or stamp of the Beast, was sacrifice 
to Czxsar. But the Asiarchs were sometimes content with the 
invocation of the genius of Cesar, together with the burning of 
incense, or pouring out of libations in honour of Cesar’s effigy. 
Pliny’s test for doubtful Christians was to make them call, upon 
the gods and supplicate the image of Cesar with frankincense 
and wine. 

Eusebius relates that when S. Polycarp was led to martyr- 
dom, in the second century, “ He was met by Herod, who was 
the Irenarch, and his father Nicetes, who, taking him in their 
vehicle, persuaded him to take a seat with them, and said: 
‘For what harm is there in saying, Lord Cesar, and to sacrifice, 
and thus save your life’” (H. E. IV. c. xv.) But Polycarp, 
refusing, was taken to the stadium, where the pro-consul urged 


292 THE REVELATION 


him. “Have a regard for your age,” he said. ‘‘ Swear by the 
genius of Cesar” (Ib.). 

“ And that no man might buy or sell, but he that hath the 
mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” 
(R. xiii. 16-17). The priests took care that the ordinary trans- 
actions of daily life, such as buying and selling, should be accom- 
panied by some overt act of worship of the emperors, so that no 
one, little or great, rich or poor, could escape their meshes. 

Tertullian, writing, about the year 200, notices this state of 
affairs. He says: ‘‘ The innumerable deities and rites of 
polytheism were closely interwoven with every circumstance 
of business or pleasure, of public or private life, and it seemed 
impossible to escape the observance of them without at the 
same time renouncing the commerce of mankind and all the 
offices and amusements of society” (‘De Corona Militis,” 
Ci). 

The consideration of “the number of his name” is personal 
to Nero, as will appear in the next verse. 


18. Ὧδε ἡ σοφία ἐστίν. ὁ ἔχων νοῦν ψηφισάτω τὸν 
9 ᾿ A , > ‘ \ > , 5 , \ is 
ἀριθμὸν τοῦ θηρίου, ἀριθμὸς yap ἀνθρώπου ἐστίν: Kal ὁ 
ἀριθμὸς αὐτοῦ ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἔξ. 


18. Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding let him compute the 
number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is six 
hundred and sixty-six. 


We have had the Beast put before us in two aspects, as the 
Roman Empire, personified in its seven heads, the Czsars; and 
specifically, as the head wounded by the sword. It is hinted 
repeatedly that the wounded head is Nero. Now we are told 
to compute the number of the Beast, for it is the number of a 
man, a living man, whose dreaded name must be shrouded in 
the mystery of gematria. Hence the necessity for wisdom, 
‘ σοφία," “That the Father of Glory may give unto you the 
spirit of wisdom and of revelation (σοφίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως) in the 
knowledge of him” (Eph. i. 17). “ He that hath understand- 
ing, let him compute the number.” 

The ancient doctrine of numbers, which the Jews probably 
derived from the Chaldeans, entered into the Hagadic exposi- 
tion of the Old Testament, which gradually assumed written 
form and completion, from about two centuries before to two 
centuries after Christ (“Ency. Brit.”). The use .of the 
numerical power of letters as a key to mysteries, which the Jews 
of Palestine had early favoured, was familiar to the converts. 


THE ROMAN THEME 293 


from Judaism living in S. John’s time. The number 666, as 
we have seen (p. 92), corresponds in Hebrew to the name of 
Nero. The explanation of this text is complete. 

Simple as the solution appears now, it was not until the 
systematic study of Hebrew was applied to scriptural exegesis 
by German scholars in the 19th century that it was discovered. 


CHAPTER XIV 


1. Kai εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ τὸ ἀρνίον ἑστὸς ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος Σιών, 
καὶ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα τέσσαρες χιλιάδες 
¥ ἐγ » > A N ae A κ᾿ > κι 
ἔχουσαι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ 

4 > ΣᾺ A 4 > a 
γεγραμμένον ἐπὶ τῶν μετώπων ἀυτῶν. 


1, And I saw and behold a Lamb stood upon Mount Sion, and with him 
a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his name and the name of his 
Father written on their foreheads. 


When the vengeance of God was about to fall upon Jerusalem, 
another angel arose, “ Saying, hurt not the earth, nor the sea, 
nor the trees, till we seal the servants of God in their fore- 
heads” (R. vii. 4). And “an hundred and forty-four thousand 
(were) sealed of all the tribes of the children of Israel” (R. vii. 4). 
They were living Hebrew Christians sealed as a protection 
against the destruction awaiting their Jewish brethren. 

This same body of Christians appears before us again. The 
Seer carries the revelation regarding these favoured Hebrew 
Christians a step further and shows them safe, with the Lamb, 
in heaven. They shail not be hurt by the plagues of Rome. 
This reassuring revelation was given to the living representa- 
tives of that great Hebrew body, then at Jerusalem (see 
Nazarines, p. 216). 

Mount Sion, the highest part of Jerusalem, was commonly 
put in the O.T. as a symbol of heaven. “And now they 
that are redeemed by the Lord shall return, and shall come 
into Sion, singing praises” (Isa. li. rz). “Sing ye to the 
Lord a new canticle . .. let the children of Sion be joyful 
in their king” (Ps. cxlix. 1-2). In the N.T. S. Paul says, 
“But you are come to Mount Sion, and to the, City of the 
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of 
many thousands of angels” (Heb. xii. 22). It is the fulfilment 
of prophecies. In the vision of the New Jerusalem, at the end 
of the Book, we read, ‘‘The Lamb shall be in it, and his 
servants shall serve him. And they shall see his face and his 
name shall be on their foreheads ” (R. xxii. 3, 4). 


294 THE REVELATION 


, » N > a 3 “ ῖ5ϑε \ 505 7 
2. Kai ἥκουσα φωνὴν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὡς φωνὴν ὑδάτων 
πολλῶν καὶ ὡς φονὴν βροντῆς μεγάλης, καὶ ἡ φωνὴ ἣ ἣν ἤκουσα 
ὡς κιθαρῳδῶν κιθαριζόντων ἐν ταῖς κιθάραις αὐτῶν. 


2. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters and as 
the voice of great thunder, and the voice which I heard was as of harpers, 
harping on their harps. 


At Κα. i. 15 the voice of God is compared to “the sound of 
many waters,” 1.6., ἃ multitude of people. In this vision the 
voice proceeds from the 144,000 Hebrews, and the volume of 
sound is likened to great thunder. But there was music in it, 
for it was accompanied by the harp. For harps and canticles 
see R. y. 8, 9g. Note the similarity of construction of the 
Roman and Jewish themes, 


3. Καὶ adovow ὡς ῳδὴν καινὴν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου καὶ 
ἐνώπιον τῶν τεσσάρων ζῴων καὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων, καὶ 
οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο μαθεῖν τὴν φδὴν εἰ μὴ αἵ ἑκατὸν τεσσερά- 
κοντα τεσσαρες χιλιάδες, οἱ ἠγορασμένοι ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς. 


3. And they sang as it were a new canticle, before the throne and before 
the four living creatures and the ancients, and no man could say the 
canticle but those hundred and forty-four thousand, who were purchased 
from the earth. 


At R. v. 9 the four living creatures and the four-and-twenty 
ancients ‘‘sang a new canticle,” which is there given. Here 
the 144,000 sang “‘as it were’’ a new canticle before the throne, 
the living creatures and the ancients. They are in heaven, a 
new feature in that ever-present vision of the throne. They 
sang a canticle which none could sing but themselves, some- 
thing distinctive of their peculiar position in the sight of God. 
No one else could sing it. 

The Seer places the Hebrews of the early Church in a class 
apart. He has in view their twofold position, under the Old 
Law and the New. They, alone, welcomed their Messias and 
followed Him. They inherited the promise of the O.T. They 
were the elect and chosen; many of them the companions, 
friends, and relations of Christ, and His Apostles. But besides 
that, they were the first fruits of Christianity. No others of 
those ** redeemed ” to God in the blood of the Lamb (see R. v. 9) 
had the double claim to the rewards of heaven, therefore 
Bona iat the O.T. canticles could express their debt to the 
Lamb. 


THE ROMAN THEME 295 


4. Οὗτοί εἰσιν of μετὰ γυναικῶν οὐκ ἐμολύνθησαν, παρ- 
θένοι γάρ εἶσιν. οὗτοι οἱ ἀκολουθοῦντες τῷ ἀρνίῳ ὅπου ἂν 
ὑπάγει, οὗτοι ἠγοράσθησαν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀπαρχὴ τῷ 
Θεῷ καὶ τῷ ἀρνίῳ. 

4. These are they who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. 


These follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased 
from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 


The Apocalypse repeatedly symbolises idolatry as fornica- 
tion and prostitution, e.g., “‘ With whom the Kings of the earth 
have committed fornication, and they who inhabit the earth have 
been made drunk with the wine of her prostitution” (R. xvii. 2). 
See R. xvii. 4, 5, 16, xviii. 3, 9, xix. 2. The 144,000 Hebrews 
of the early Church were not virgins in the literal sense of the 
word ; but they were in the metaphorical sense. Idolatry 
was abhorrent to the Hebrew Christians. The 144,000 had 
never sacrificed to Cesar, or to other false gods. In that 
respect they were virgins. But their claim to heaven as 
followers of the Lamb rests on other grounds. They were 
purchased (ἠγοράσθησαν) from among men, “ the first fruits to 
God.” At R. v. 9, “ ἠγόρασας ᾽ is translated ‘‘ redeemed,” and 
that is the sense in which the word is used here, and at verse 3, 
above. In the Old Law the first fruits of the field were given 
to God (Exod. xxiii. 19; Lev. ii. 12). The Apostles laboured 
for some years, exclusively, in Jerusalem, and their first appeal 
elsewhere also was to the Jews. The 144,000 Hebrews were con- 
sequently the earliest converts to Christianity, “the first fruits to 
God and the Lamb.” Their position is well defined. S. Paul 
uses “‘first fruits’ in the same sense (Rom. xvi. 5, and 
I Cor. xvi. 15). 


5. Καὶ ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτῶν οὐχ ξύρέθη Weddos: apopot 
γάρ εἰσιν. 
5. And in their mouth was found no lie, for they are without spot before 
the throne of God. 


(S. omits yap.) 

Lying connotes false doctrine in this Book, whether it be 
heresy or paganism. ‘‘ Who is a liar, but he who denieth that 
Jesus is the Christ” (1 Jhn. ii. 22). False Apostles and false 
prophets afflicted the early Church. They were liars. The 
Pharisees were liars. The Jews were liars. Our Lord told 
them so, *‘ You are of your father the devil. ... When he 
speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the 
father thereof.” 5. John put this in his Gospel (viii. 44). The 


296 THE REVELATION 


144,000 were free from this taint. Dr. Hort notices that 
ἄμωμοι comes from a Levitical term, referring to Jewish sacri-~ 
fice, meaning sacrificially perfect, ‘‘ without spot.” 

“ Before the throne of God above” follows the Vulgate 
Ξε ante thronum Dei,” 


6. Kat εἶδον ἄλλον ἄγγελον πετόμενον ἐν μεσουρανήματι, 
ἔχοντα εὐαγγέλιον αἰώνιον εὐαγγελίσαι ἐπὶ τοὺς καθημένους 
ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπὶ wav ἔθνος καὶ φυχὴν καὶ γλῶσσαν καὶ 
λαόν. 

6. And I saw another angel flying through the midst of heaven, having 


the eternal gospel to preach to them that sit upon the earth, and over every 
nation and tribe and tongue and people. 


Before the final woes of Jerusalem were depicted an Eagle 
appeared, πετομένου ἐν μεσουρανήματι (the same words), and 
made a proclamation of woe (R. viii. 13). That eagle we have 
assumed to be S. John himself, and the proclamation his Reve- 
lation. So here we may assume that he is making a prediction 
of coming events. Εὐαγγέλιον Ξε ρ]αα tidings, was used for the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ in the early Church (Mark i. 1). But in 
this case the substance of the proclamation is given in the next 
verse. The “glad tidings” refers to the punishment of Rome, 
“ Fear the Lord and give him honour because the hour of his 
judgment has come,” next verse. This good news is given to 
those, ca@npévouvs—sitting as Christians upon the earth. Karoc- 
κέω is the verb used for non-Christians. This connects with 
R. xvii. 15, ‘‘The waters . . . where the harlot sitteth are 
people and nations and tongues,” Christian people and nations 
and tongues as above. The sufferings of pagans at the hands 
of Rome do not come into the purview of the Book. Another 
angel follows and proclaims the fate of Babylon=Rome. The 
“eternal gospel” has a wide significance, and S. John may 
refer in this vision of the future to his own gospel. 


7. Λέγων ἐν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ, Φοβήθητε τὸν Θεὸν καὶ δότε 
αὐτῷ δόξαν, ὅτι ἦλθεν ἡ ὥρα τῆς κρίσεως αὐτοῦ, καὶ προσ- 
κυνήσατε τῷ ποιήσαντι τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν 
θάλασσαν καὶ πηγὰς ὑδάτων. 

Ἵ, ene with a loud voice, Fear the Lord and give him honour, because 
the hour of his judgment is come ; and adore ye him who made heaven 
and earth, the sea and the fountains of water. 

(S. omits the article τὴν before θάλασσαν.) 


Φωνῃ peydrn— with a loud voice ”’—is another connecting 
link with the eagle angel of R. viii. 13. Bound up with the 


THE ROMAN THEME - 297 


evangel of the fall of Rome is an exhortation to Christians, the 
world over, to refrain from idolatry, to fear God and adore 
Him alone. 

The fear of the Lord is taught in many places in the 
Apocalypse, both directly as here, and indirectly, as when the 
saints in heaven are referred to as having feared the Lord. 
Men fell into Cesar worship through fear. It was necessary 
to oppose that fear by a greater one, the fear of God, whose 
power extends over both this world and the next. 

Three angels make three announcements in this chapter, 
connected one with the other. They are prophetic warnings. 

“Because the hour of his judgment is come ” refers to the 
matter in hand, the execution of God’s judgment on the 
Roman power. At R. xiv. 15 we are told “the hour is come to 
reap.’ At R. iii. 10 we have “the hour of temptation.” Hour 
is put for time, indefinite in length. ‘The hour of his judg- 
ment is come” is the answer to the martyr’s prayer at R. vi. 10 
—‘ Dost thou not judge and revenge our blood on them that 
dwell on the earth ”—“ κατοικούντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς." We know 
the meaning of that Greek phrase now. It means pagan Rome, 
the persecutor. Accordingly pageants of vengeance on Rome 
presently appear. 


8. Καὶ ἄλλος δεύτερος ἄγγελος ἠκολούθησεν λέγων, 
Ἔπεσεν ἔπεσεν ,“βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη, ἣ ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ 
θυμοῦ τῆς πορνείας αὐτῆς πεπότικεν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. 


8. And another angel followed, saying, She is fallen, she is fallen, that 
great Babylon which made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her 
fornication. 


And another devrepos—‘“‘ second ’’—angel followed. (‘‘ Second” 
is not in the Vulgate.) He encouraged the Christian people to 
be fearless of Rome, for she is fallen, doubly fallen. Not only 
has the Empire come to grief, prophetically, by anticipation, 
but “ Great Babylon” also. Babylon was the mystic name for 
Rome amongst Hebrew Christians of the early Church. “ That 
is admitted by scholars” (Hort, “ Judaism and Christ,” p. 155). 
In I Peter v. 13 we read: “The Church which is in Bakes 
- . , salutes you.” 5. Peter wrote from Rome, and evidently 
employed a well-known metaphor when he called it Babylon in 
his Epistle. In the Sibylline Oracles, a Jewish composition 
written before the year 67, Rome is more than once referred to 
under the name of Babylon. 

Gibbon says: ‘‘ As long as the emperors who reigned before 


298 THE REVELATION 


Constantine persisted in the profession of idolatry, the epithet 
of Babylon was applied to the City and to the Empire of Rome” 
(“ Decline and Fall,” cap. xv.). i 

S. John, as we know, had good reason to avoid inflaming the 
passions of the Romans, hence he could not mention Rome by 
name. But in using the expression Babylon he makes his 
meaning perfectly clear to the Christians of his time. 

Ancient Babylon was the metropolis of a great and idolatrous 
Empire, which persecuted the chosen people. It was, therefore, 
a symbol of pagan Rome easily understood. It is written in 
Isaias xxi. 9: ‘‘ Babylon is fallen, she is fallen, and all the 
graven gods thereof are broken unto the ground.” The pre- 
dictions regarding the destruction of ancient Babylon were 
fulfilled gradually, during the lapse of centuries. So it was 
with the Roman Babylon. 

Here, again, Babylon is represented as a woman, as was the 
Hebrew custom; and the allusion to wine and fornication is 
put for her idolatrous arts and saturnalia. ‘‘ Babylon hath 
been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, that made all the 
earth drunk; the nations have drunk of her wine” (Jer. li. 7). 

Prof. M. Stuart notices that rod θυμοῦ is derived from θύω, 
“to sacrifice,” Δ, to burn on an altar (op. cit., ii. p. 296). It is 
in contrast with the wine of God’s wrath at verse 10 below. 
The same charge is made against Romevat R. xvii. 2, when the 
Kings of the earth and the inhabitants of the earth are said to 
have been ‘‘made drunk with the wine of her prostitution,” 
“ τῆς πορνείας avths”—the same word in Greek with two 
English translations. Fornication is used frequently as a 
symbol of idolatry in the Apocalypse, as in the O.T. 


9: Kat ἄλλος ἄγγελος τρίτος ἠκολούθησεν αὐτοῖς λέγων 
ἐν φωνῇ μεγάλῇ. Et τις προσκυνεῖ τὸ θηρίον καὶ τὴν 
εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ, καὶ λαμβάνει χάραγμα ἐπὶ τοῦ μετώπου αὐτοῦ 
ἢ ἐπὶ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ. 

9. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any 


man shall adore the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his fore- 
head, or in his hand. 


The third angel continues the prophetic warning, calling 
attention particularly to the worship of the Beast and his 
image, and to the marks of the Beast, set forth at R. xii. 15, 16, 
showing that the denunciations which follow are aimed at Cesar 
worship. 


THE ROMAN THEME 299 


10. Kat αὐτὸς πίεται ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ 
τοῦ κεκερασμένου ἀκράτου ἐν τῷ ποτηρίῳ τῆς ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ, 
καὶ βασανισθήσεται ἐν πυρὶ καὶ θείῳ ἐνώπιον ἀγγέλων 

i + ae) 4 x 3 a 
ἁγίων καὶ ἐνώπιον τοῦ ἀρνίου. 


το. He also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mingled 
with pure wine in the cup of his wrath, and he shall be tormented with fire 
and brimstone in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb. 


“Καὶ αὐτὸς ’—‘* He, the same,” who shall adore the Beast, 
“shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.’ Adoring the 
Beast is the same thing as drinking “the wine of the wrath 
of her fornication” (see R. xiv. 8). The wine of the wrath of 
God is an O.T. symbol of Divine chastisement. ‘‘ He shall 
drink of the wrath of the Almighty” (Job xxi. 20). “ For in 
the hand of the Lord there is a cup of strong wine full of 
mixture . . . all the sinners of the earth shall drink” 
(Ps. Ixxiv. 9), see also Isa. li. 17, Jer. xxv. 15. The meaning of 
the wine of the wrath of God in this case is exemplified by 
what follows, “ He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone.” 
Brimstone, 7.¢., sulphur, added to fire, not only makes it burn 
more fiercely, but also causes it to evolve suffocating fumes. 
The Lord rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrha 
(Gen. xix. 24). See the fire of Topheth (Isa. xxx. 33). 

The apostates, who sacrifice to Cesar, are warned that there 
is prepared for them the torment of fire and brimstone, in the 
sight of the Lamb and his holy Angels. 


11. Kat ὁ καπνὸς τοῦ βασανισμοῦ αὐτῶν εἰς αἰῶνας 
αἰώνων ἀναβαΐνει, καὶ οὐκ ἔχουσιν ἀνάπαυσιν ἡμέρας καὶ 
νυκτός, οἱ προσκυνοῦντες τὸ θηρίον καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ, 
καὶ εἴ τις λαμβάνει τὸ χάραγμα τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ. 

11. And the smoke of their torments shall ascend up for ever and ever ; 


neither have they rest day or night, who have adored the beast and his 
image, and whosoever did receive the mark of his name. 


The eternity of the torments, of those who adored the Beast, 
is explicitly declared. ‘‘ Day and night” is a Hebraism, meaning 
continually, without end. | 

The herald angels announce, first, that the hour of God’s 
‘*‘judgment is come.’ That is the answer to ‘“‘ How long 
O Lord .. . dost thou not judge” at R. vi. το. Second, that 
judgment is fallen (by anticipation) on Rome because she has 
corrupted all nations with her idolatries. Third, that all who 
participate in Cesar worship will be condemned to hell. 


Ι 
: 


300 THE REVELATION 


Ὧδε ἡ ὑπομονὴ τῶν ἁγίων ἐστίν, οἱ τηροῦντες ᾿ τὰς 
πρρψοα τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τὴν πίστιν Ἰησοῦ. ; 


12. Here is the patience of the saints, who keep the commandments of 
God and the faith of Jesus. 


At R. xiii. 10, where the death of Nero by the sword is fore- 
told, we have a similar intimation, “‘ Here is the patience and 
faith of the saints.” The Seer knew the strength of the tempta- 
tion to sacrifice to Cezesar, how men would cling to life, and fall 
into apostacy like green figs shaken from a fig-tree in a high 
wind (R. vi. 13). The natural instinct of self-preservation had 
to be met by the strongest arguments in favour of self-sacrifice. 
These he puts forward in the punishments of hell. 

The patience of the saints is to ponder the reward of the good 
and the punishment of the bad, as set forth above, and to bear 
patiently the trials of this short life to avoid the worse suffer- 
ings of the wicked in the eternal life to come. We gather from 
S. Paul that “ tribulation worketh patience”’ (Rom. v. 3). 


13. Kat ἤκουσα φωνῆς ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ λεγούσης; 
Γράψον. Μακάριοι οἱ νεκροὶ οἱ ἐν Κυρίῳ ἀποθνήσκοντες. 
ἀπ᾽ ἄρτι ναὶ, λέγει τὸ πνεῦμα, ἵνα ἀναπαήσονται ἐκ τῶν 
κόπων αὐτῶν, τὰ γὰρ ἔργα αὐτῶν ἀκολουθεῖ μετ᾽ αὐτῶν. 


13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Write, Blessed are 
the dead who die in the Lord. From henceforth now saith the Spirit, that 
they may rest from their labours, for their works follow them. 


(S. puts the stop after ἀπ᾽ ἄρτι.) 

Angels having threatened with punishments those who lapse 
into idolatry ; ; a voice from heaven proclaims the reward of the 
“constant.” Blessed are they who die in the Lord, now, and 
from henceforth. The voice is the voice of the Spirit, the Holy 
Ghost. It takes us back to the letters to the Seven Churches, 
which begin with Τράψον, “ write,” and end with, He that hath 
an ear let him hear what the Spirit—‘“ τὸ πνεῦμα ”—says to the 
Churches. 

That they may rest—“ ἵνα ἀναπαήσονται.᾽᾽ So, the martyrs 
who cried out “ How long, O Lord” were told to rest—“ iva 
ἀναπαύσονται (R. vi. ΣΙ, where see notes). 

Their labours are ended, but their good works follow them. 
God warns the Church of Laodicea, “1 know thy works, that 
thou art neither cold nor hot.” At R. xx. 12, 13, we are told 
the dead “ were judged, every one according to his works.” 
Again at Ε΄ xxii. 12, “My reward is with me, to render to 


THE ROMAN THEME 301 


every man according to his works.” Revelation is very clear 
as to the value of works. S. John in his Gospel throws light 
on the meaning of works (Jhn. v. 36, vi. 29, viil. 39, 41). ᾿ 

The command to write means that this is an important 
decree specially worthy of remembrance. 


i’ 


14. Kat εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ νεφέλη λευκή, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν νεφέλην 


καθήμενον ὅμοιον υἱῷ ἀνθρώπου, ἔχων ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς. 


αὐτοῦ στέφανον χρυσοῦν καὶ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὑτοὺὐ δρέπανον ὀξύ. 


14. And I sawand behold a white cloud ; and upon the cloud one sitting 
like to the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his 
hand a sharp sickle. 


(S -- υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου.) 

This is a fresh vision. It introduces the Roman catastrophe 
with a tableau symbolising the fall of Rome. Νεφέλη λευκή, “a 
white cloud,” and sitting on the cloud, as on a throne “one 
like the Son of man.” See ὁ καθήμενος, R. iv. 2. ‘* One like 
the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven ” (Dan. vii. 13). 
*‘ And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the 
Son of man” (R.i. 13). ‘“‘ Behold He cometh with the clouds ” 
(R. i. 7). See Matt. xxiv. 30, xxvi. 64; Acts 1. 9, II. 

“The Son of man,” an expression used frequently by the 
prophet Ezechiel for the Messias, adopted by our Lord and 
used by the Seer at Ri. 13, evidently means our Saviour. He 
holds a sharp sickle or reaping hook in His hand, as a symbol 
of reaping. He appears in an executive capacity in this com- 
prehensive symbolism to match His appearance at the head of 
the forces which overthrow Rome in Chapter xix. 11. 


15. Καὶ ἄλλος ἄγγελος ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ, κράζων ἐν 
φωνῇ μεγάλῃ τῷ καθημένῳ ἐπὶ τῆς νεφέλης, Πέμψον πὸ 
ρέπανόν σου καὶ θέρισον, ὅτι ἦλθεν ἡ ὥρα θερίσαι, ὅτι 


ἐξηράνθη ὃ θερισμὸς τῆς γῆς. 


15. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice 
to him that sat upon the cloud, Put to thy sickle and reap, because the hour 
is come to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 


“ Another angel,” different from the herald angels, ‘came 
out of the Temple”; that is, Hebraically, from the presence 
of God. At ΚΕ. xi. 19 the Temple of God was opened in heaven, 
in connection with the judgment, “and there were lightnings 
and voices.” ‘This angel came from the judgment seat of 
God as a messénger. ‘“ Put to thy sickle and reap,” is the 


Phe, 


302 THE REVELATION 


command of God. This is in accordance with the teaching of | 
the Gospel of 5. John. ‘*‘ This commandment have I received 
from my Father” (Jhn. x. 18, xii. 49, xiv. 31. 

For the harvest of the earth, “τῆς γῆς, is ripe. We have 
seen that τῆς γῆς is put throughout the Apocalypse for the non- 
Christian inhabitants of the Roman Empire. As we have done 
with the Jews, “‘ τῆς γῆς " refers here to pagans. Dr. Swete says, 
“In the Prophets the harvest, whether wheat harvest or vintage, 
represents the overthrow of the enemies of Israel, who are 
ripe for their fall” (op. cit., p. 190). 8. John uses the same 
metaphor with reference to Rome. 

The angel announces that the hour has come to reap (see 
verse 7, ante). The hour is mentioned again in connection with 
the destruction of Rome at R. xviii. 10, 17, 1g. The harvest of 
paganism took some centuries to reap, but Christians of the 
first century could not know that. 


16. Kat ἔβαλεν ὁ ὸ καθήμενος ἐ ἐπὶ τὴν νεφέλην τὸ δρέπανον 
αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἐθερίσθη ἡ γῆ. 


16. And he that sat on the cloud, put his sickle to the earth, and the earth 
was reaped. 


(S.= τῆς νεφέλης.) 

“And he that sat on the cloud put” his reaping hook upon 
the Empire. “ESadev, as we have seen at R. ii. 22, does not 
mean violence. He laid the sickle—émri tiv yjv—upon the 
Roman world and it was reaped. He gave the signal for 
reaping, and forthwith the reaping was finished. Thus the Seer 
shows the irresistible power and greatness of Him that sat on 
the cloud. A display of Divine omnipotence was needed to 
symbolise the destruction of the Roman-world-power. 


17. Καὶ ἄλλος ἄγγελος ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ Tod ναοῦ Tod ἐν τῷ 
οὐρανῷ, ἔχων καὶ αὐτὸς δρέπανον ὀξύ. 


17. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he 
also having a sharp sickle. 


There were two harvests, the cereal, and the wine harvest. 
The idea of gathering these in, as the harvests of iniquity, 
comes from Joel. “ Put ye in the sickles for the harvest is ripe, 
come and go down for the press is full, the fats run over, for 
their wickedness is multiplied” (Joel 11. 13). Another angel 
came out of the Temple of Judgment, with a sharp sickle. 
Apéravov means a pruning sickle used for vines as well as for 
corn. 


THE ROMAN THEME 303 


18. Καὶ ἄλλος ἄγγελος ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, 
ἔχων ἐξουσίαν ἐπὶ τοῦ πυρός, καὶ ἐφώνησεν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ 
τῷ ἔχοντι τὸ δρέπανον τὸ ὀξὺ, λέγων, Πέμψον σου τὸ 
δρέπανον τὸ ὀξὺ καὶ τρύγησον τοὺς βότρυας τῆς ἀμπέλου 
τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἤκμασαν αἱ σταφυλαὶ αὐτῆς. 


18. And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, 
and he cried with a loud voice to him that had the sharp sickle saying, Put 
to thy sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vineyard of the earth 
because the grapes thereof are ripe. 


The angel from the altar who had power over fire reminds us 
of the angel of punishment at R. vill. 5, who ‘‘ took the censor 
and filled it with the fire of the altar and cast it on the earth.” 
To have power over fire is to be concerned in the administration 
of punishments. He ordered the other δηρεὶ--- ἄλλος ἄγγελος 
—of verse 17, who had the sharp sickle, to gather the clusters 
of the vineyard of the earth—rfs yjs—meaning the Roman 
Empire. For the grapes are—jxyacav—“ full ripe,” from the 
point of view of iniquity. 


19. Καὶ ἔβαλεν 6 ἄγγελος τὸ δρέπανον αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν γῆν, 
καὶ ἐτρύγησεν τὴν ἄμπελον τῆς γῆς καὶ ἔβαλεν εἰς τὴν 
ληνὸν τοῦ θυμοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν μέγαν. 


1g. And the angel put his sharp sickle to the earth, and gathered the vine- 
yard of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 


Kis τὴν yhv,as Prof. Stuart says, “ generically expresses the 
object on or toward which the action of the δρέπανον was 
directed.” The angel gathered the vineyard of the earth, 
τῆς γῆς, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of 
God. The over-ripe vineyard of the earth is symbolical of the 
moral pagan rottenness of the Empire. 

The idea of the great winepress of the wrath of God follows 
the threat at R. xiv. 9, 10, ‘‘ If any man shall adore the Beast 
and his image. ... He also shall drink of the wine of the 
wrath of God.” And these tropes are strongly contrasted with 
the sin of mystic Babylon, ‘‘ which made all nations drink of 
the wine of the wrath of her fornication” (R. xiv. 8). This 
symbolism is taken from the O.T. Job says of the wicked 
man, ‘‘ He shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty” (xxi. 20). 
** Pour out thy wrath on the nations that have not known thee”’ 
(Psalm lxxvili. 6). ‘‘ For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the 
God of Israel. Take the cup of wine of this fury at my hand, 


304 THE REVELATION 


and thou shalt make all the nations to drink thereof” 
(Jer. xxv. 15). 

Note that the ‘Son of Man” gave the signal for reaping, but 
the executive work is done by angels. 


20. Καὶ ἐπατήθη ἡ Anvis ἔξωθεν τῆς πόλεως, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν 
αἷμα ἐκ τῆς ληνοῦ ἄχρι τῶν χαλινῶν τῶν ἵππων, ἀπὸ 
σταδίων χιλίων ἐξακοσίων. 


20, And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came 
out of the winepress up to the horses’ bridles for a thousand and six 
hundred furlongs. 


The prophet Isaias refers to the winepress and the blood of 
the Gentiles. “1 have trodden the winepress alone, and of 
the Gentiles there is not a man with me.” “I have trampled 
upon them in my indignation, and have trodden them down in 
my wrath” (lxiil. 3). The Seer follows Isaias in making 
blood come up out of the trodden winepress. We know that 
he has this Isaian figure of the Gentiles, that is of pagan 
Roman punishment in view. (See R. xix. 13, notes.) 

Blood standing up to “‘horses’ bridles”’ is a Jewish figure, taken 
from Enoch. “A horse will wade breast high in the blood of 
sinners”’ (c. I. 3). But the Seer goes further, and says ἀπὸ 
σταδίων χιλίων ἐξακοσίων, wherein σταδίων has been translated 
furlongs—“ for a thousand six hundred furlongs.” But length 
and height, without breadth, makes an unnatural figure. It 
is a faulty metaphor. It is meant to express quantity, but 
fails to do so, for the third dimension is wanting. When the 
Seer wrote this, Christians were being slaughtered in the 
** stadium ”—or amphitheatre—of Rome. His prophetic eye saw 
the stadia of the Empire running with Christian blood. He had 
in view the martyrs’ cry, “‘ How long, O Lord, dost thou not 
revenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth (R. vi. Io). 
It was a question of blood for blood, and the measure of it. 
As Christian blood was shed in the stadium; stadia are appropri- 
ately taken as the measure of retaliation. We are told that 
blood from the winepress of the wrath of God stood up to the 
level of horses’ bridles in sixteen hundred stadia. Sixteen, 
the square of four multiplied by one hundred, is a symbol of 
amplitude. We have here a perfectly natural figure and a 
measure of quantity, which the servants of God of the first 
century would readily understand. In their day a stadium 
was a place for athletic, gladiatorial, and wild beast shows. 
In the Acta Martyrum such public arenas were called in- 


THE ROMAN THEME 305 


differently stadia and amphitheatres. Owing to the amount of 
space they occupied, stadia were built outside the city. This 
accounts for the winepress being trodden “without the city,” 
an expression which, otherwise, cannot be explained. 

The use of the word “‘stadium” for ‘‘ furlong” came into . 
use centuries after this Book was written. The far-seeing eye 
of prophecy is evident in this reference to stadia. 


CHAPTER XV 


BEFORE the seven angels with the seven trumpets called down 
the fire of God’s wrath on Jerusalem, there was silence in 
heaven; a heaven of Jewish saints witnessed in silence the 
ceremonial preparations for the destruction of Jerusalem. 
Heaven, reinforced by countless multitudes of all nations, tribes, 
peoples and tongues (R. vii. 9), now rejoices at the fall of 
Rome. But the ritual of preparation for vengeance is duly 
observed, as before. 


1. Kat εἶδον ἄλλο σημεῖον ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ μέγα καὶ θαυ- 
μαστόν, ἀγγέλους ἑπτὰ ἔχοντας πληγὰς ἑπτά, τὰς ἐσχάτας, 
ὅτι ἐν αὐταῖς ἐτελέσθη ὁ θυμὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ. 


1. And I saw another sign in heaven great and wonderful, seven angels 
having the seven last plagues ; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. 


If we carry our minds back to the first century, when the 
Roman power held the world in a grip of iron, any sign from 
heaven of the speedy overthrow of Rome would be great and 
“ Pavpacrov,’—“ astonishing,” as well as wonderful. In the 
synopsis of the Roman theme, at R. ix. 18, we have a reference 
to the plagues of Rome, veiled under the symbolism of fire and 
smoke and brimstone, things which denote punishment. 

Now that we have reached the punishment of Rome, seven 
angels having the seven last plagues appear in heayen, just as 
seven trumpet angels appeared to execute judgment in the 
Jewish theme (R. viii. 2). The number seven means the pre- 
scribed number known only toGod. It had this Hebraic appeal 
to the ‘‘ servants ’’ of God. 

The seven “‘ last plagues’ are so called for a reason given, 
‘for in them is filled up the wrath of God,” where, ἐτελέσθη, 
aorist, for future, means proximate and certain accomplishment. 
We have had ἐτελέσθη used in the same way in the parallel 
case of the destruction of Jerusalem, καὶ ἐτελέσθη τὸ μυστήριον 

20 


306 THE REVELATION 


τοῦ Θεοῦ (R. x. 7). It is introduced here again with reference 
to the fall of Rome, almost in the same words, ἐτελέσθη ὁ θυμὸς 
τοῦ Θεοῦ. Bearing in mind the Seer’s careful selection of 
words, it has the same sense. These remarks are called for 
because this part of the Apocalypse has been interpreted as 
referring to the end of the world. The “last plagues” are taken 
out of their Roman context, and made criteria of the last days. 
But we have the fall of Rome, the millennium, and the troubles 
of Gog and Magog, before we come to the last days, and 
when they appear in this Book there is no mistaking them 
(see R. xx. II-I5). 


2. Kal εἶδον ὡς θάλασσαν ὑαλίνην μεμιγμένην πυρί, καὶ 
τοὺς νικῶντας ἐκ τοῦ θηρίου καὶ ἐκ τῆς εἰκόνος αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκ 
τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ ἑστῶτας ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν 
τὴν ὑαλίνην, ἔχοντας κιθάρας τοῦ Θεοῦ. 


2. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them that 
had overcome the beast and his image and the number of his name, stand- 
ing on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. 


In the vision of the throne of God there was before the 
throne “as it were a sea of glass” (R. iv. 6). The Seer sees 
this crystal pavement of heaven, now, mingled with fire, which 
is a symbol of suffering. And standing upon it, “them that 
had overcome the beast "---τοὺς νικῶντας ex τοῦ Onptov—which 
may be translated ‘“‘ those who had come off victorious over the 
beast.” Here the verb—vixdw —“ to conquer” indicates 
martyrdom; as frequently before the reference is to victory 
over death by martyrdom. We saw the martyrs of Czsar 
worship at R. vii. 9, “‘ before the throne of God” (R. vii. 15). 
Now, seeing the seven angels in heaven, having the seven last 
plagues or punishments for Rome, the martyrs hold the harps 
of God and are prepared to sing a canticle of triumph. 


3: Καὶ ἄδουσιν τὴν ὠδὴν Μωυσέως τοῦ δούλου τοῦ Θεοῦ 
καὶ τὴν φὠδὴν τοῦ ἀρνίου, λέγοντες" Μεγάλα καὶ θαυμαστὰ 
τὰ ἔργα σου, Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ" δίκαιαι καὶ 
ἀληθιναὶ αἱ ὁδοί σου, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων. 

3. And singing the canticle of Moses, the servant of God, and the canticle 


of the Lamb, saying, Great and wonderful are thy works, O Lord, God, 
Almighty ; just and true are thy ways, O King of ages. 


(9. -- τῶν ἐθνῶν.) 
The canticle of Moses is the song of triumph of the Hebrews 
on their deliverance from the Egyptians by the passage of the 


THE ROMAN THEME 307 


Red Sea, “ Let us sing to the Lord for he is gloriously magni- 
fied” (Exod. xv. 1). The martyrs, standing before the throne, 
exult in their victory. The canticle of the Lamb we have had 
at R. v. 9, “ Because thou wast slain and hast redeemed us 
to God in thy blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people. 
and nation.” The martyrs acknowledge that they have 
conquered by the merits of the Redeemer’s blood. 

Moses—rot δούλου τοῦ @eot—“ the servant of God,” helps us 
to understand the class of men to whom the Apocalypse was 
sent—rois δούλοις αὐτοῦ (R.i. 1). The Seer uses his expressions 
with such precision, that we may be sure the “servants” of 
God stood for the Hebrew Leaders of the Church. 

“Great and wonderful are thy works ” corresponds with the 
‘“‘ preat and wonderful ”’ sign, at verse I, above. 

‘Just and true are thy ways” refers especially to the 
judgments of God upon Rome. See R. xvi. 7 and xix. 2, 
where these expressions are repeated. 

The Divine titles Κύριε, ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ παντοκράτωρ, “ Lord, a 
“ God,” “ Almighty,’’ were expressions blasphemously given to 
Nero and other Czsars. 


4. Τίς οὐ μὴ φοβηθῇ, Κύριε, καὶ δοξάσῃ τὸ ὄνομά σου; 
ὅτι μόνος ὅσιος, ὅτι πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἥξουσιν καὶ προσκυνή- 
σουσιν ἐνώπιόν σου, ὅτι τὰ δικαιώματά σου ἐφανερώθησαν. 


4. Who shall not fear thee, Ὁ Lord, and magnify thy name? For thou 
only art holy, for all nations shall come and shall adore in thy sight, because 
thy judgments are manifest. 


(S.= δοξάσει.) 

In the last chapter an angel flying, cried with a loud voice, 
“Fear the Lord and give him honour and adore ye him, who 
made heaven and earth because the hour of his judgment is 
come” (R. xiv. 6, 7). The martyrs comply with this command, 
and echo its expressions, ‘‘ Who shall not fear thee, O Lord ?” 
“The hour of his judgment” they change into “thy judgments 
are manifest.” The seven last plagues are in si ght. 

* All nations shall come and adore in thy sight.” They them- 
selves were “δ great multitude, which no man could number of 
all nations” (R. vii. 9), the victims of Roman persecution. The 
Seer reintroduces the vision of the martyrs, seen in the Jewish 
theme, showing that persecution is finished and retribution 
takes its place. Eusebius having this text in view, wrote, at 
the end of the tenth persecution, “ Sing to the Lord a new song 
because he has done wonderful works. . . . Thus then as the 
Scriptures enjoin upon us to sing a new song” (H. E. x. 1). 


308 THE REVELATION 


Ν Ν A > ἊΝ ΩΣ , ε Ν a “Ἢ. 
5. Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα εἶδον, καὶ ἠνοίγη ὁ ναὸς τῆς σκηνῆς 
τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ. 


5. And after these things I saw, and behold the temple of the tabernacle 
of the testimony in heaven was opened. 


After the rejoicings which were called forth by the appear- 
ance of the seven angels in heaven, the ceremonial ritual of 
vengeance upon Rome begins. It differs from the ceremonial 
preparations for the punishment of the Jews at R. viii. 2-6. 
The Temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was 
opened. This takes us back to the Temple of Judgment at 
R. xi. 19. The description is essentially the same. ‘“ The 
temple of God was opened in heaven and the ark of his testa- 
ment was seen in the temple.” Here the tabernacle is thrown 
open for the exit of angels of vengeance. This symbolism 
would appeal to Hebrew Christians of the first century who 
were familiar with the ritual of the Temple. At R. xiv. 15 the 
tableau of vengeance on Rome (the reaping of the harvest of 
wickedness) is begun by an angel coming out of the sanctuary 
(τοῦ ναοῦ), and saying, “ Put to thy sickle and reap” (see also 
R. xiv. 17). Accordingly now that we have reached the harvest 
of vengeance, the temple is opened for the exit of the angels of 
punishment. These revelations are knit together by a con- 
tinuous chain of linked prophecies. 


6. Kal ἐξῆλθον ot ἑπτὰ ἄγγελοι οἱ ἔχοντες Tas ἑπτὰ 
πληγὰς ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ, ἐνδεδυμένοι λίνον καθαρὸν λαμπρὸν καὶ 
περιεζωσμένοι περὶ τὰ στήθη ζώνας χρυσᾶς. 

6. And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, 


clothed in clean and white linen, and girt about the breasts with golden 
girdles. 


The seven angels of the seven plagues call to mind the seven 
angels of the seven trumpets (R. vill. 2). The Roman theme 
follows the model of the Jewish theme. The plagues are seven 
in number for the same reason that the trumpets are seven in 
number, because the number seven covers all the plagues of all 
kinds which destroyed the Roman power. Or as the Seer puts. 
it, “for in them is filled up the wrath of God” (R. xv. 1), on 
Rome, understood. But they are not called the seven last 
plagues here, as at R. xv. 1. A repetition of the word ‘ last” 
might lead to misconception (see R. xv. 1, notes). 

The punishment of Rome is not inflicted in anger. Like 
the punishment of the Jews, it is the result of the deliberate 
judgment of God, to be carried out with solemn ritual. The: 


THE ROMAN THEME 309 


seven angels come forth from the Temple vested in ceremonial 
garments. Their vestments are those worn by the priests of 
the Temple, when engaged in liturgical services (Lev. xvi. 4; 
Exod. xxviii. 39, 40). The Great High Priest, the Son of Man, 
is depicted in these garments at R. i. 13. 


“". lal “ A 

7. Kat ἕν ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ζῷων ἔδωκεν τοῖς ἑπτὰ 

3 nw “ ἴω lal lal 

ἀγγέλοις ἑπτὰ φιάλας χρυσᾶς γεμούσας τοῦ θυμοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ 
τοῦ ζῶντος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. 


7. And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven 
golden vials, full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 


At R. v. 8 the four living creatures have “ golden vials full of 
odours, which are the prayers of the saints.” At R. viii. 3, 4, 
before punishment begins, “ the prayers of the saints” are 
accepted. Now one of the four living creatures gives to the 
seven angels seven vials full of the wrath of God. We have 
had the wine of the wrath of God—‘“ τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ τοῦ 
@ecot”’—at R. xiv. 10. It is adjudged to all who partake in 
Cesar worship (R. xiv. 9), hence it is meted out to the 
idolatrous Empire. 

“Who liveth for ever and ever,” recalls the warning at 
R. xiv. 11, ‘‘ The smoke of their torments shall ascend up for 
ever and ever.” The threats contained in the last chapter are 
now about to be fulfilled. 

Observe the continuity of the Roman theme with the early 
chapters of the Book. The four living creatures were seen at 
R. iv. 6. One of them takes part in the Roman theme without 
further introduction. It is manifestly intended that the vision 
of the throne of God should continue in evidence in the Roman 
theme. The vials are the φιάλας of R. v. 8, shallow saucer-like 
bowls adapted to the use of incense. The “plagues” are now 
shown to consist of “the wrath of God.” 


8. Καὶ ἐγεμίσθη ὁ ναὸς καπνοῦ ἐκ τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ 
καὶ ἐκ τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο εἰσελθεῖν εἰς 
τὸν ναὸν ἄχρι τελεσθῶσιν αἱ ἑπτὰ πληγαὶ τῶν ἑπτὰ 
ἀγγέλων. : 

8, And the temple was filled with smoke from the majesty of God, and 


from his power ; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the 
seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. 


“Smoke from the majesty of God” follows O.T. symbolism. 
*‘ And all Mount Sinai was on a smoke because the Lord was 
come down upon it in fire” (Exod. xix. 18). When the 


416 ‘THE REVELATION 


prophet Isaias saw the vision of God, he tells us, “and the 
house was filled with smoke” (Isa. vi. 4). ‘And no man was. 
able to enter into the temple,” because of this smoke of the 
majesty of God. ‘‘ Neither could the priests enter into the 
temple of the Lord, because the majesty of the Lord had filled 
the Temple of the Lord” (also Isa. ἰχν. 5, 2 Paralip. vii. 2; see 
3 Kings viii. 11). When the Ark, containing the Tables of the 
Law, was brought into the Temple, the priest could not stand 
and minister, ‘‘ For the glory of the Lord had filled the house 
of God” (2 Paralip. v. 14). 

The Seer makes this significant addition, that “no man was 
able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven 
angels were fulfilled.” The majesty of God would not allow, 
even, of intercession. No mercy would be shown to idolatrous 
Rome. With this prediction, the ritual of preparation and the 
dramatic prologue to the Roman theme comes to an end. 


CHAPTER XVI 


Tuis chapter gives a detailed account of God’s vengeance upon 
the Roman Empire. It is modelled partly on the plagues of 
Egypt in the O.T. and partly on the vengeance trumpets of 
the Jewish theme. 


*\ Η͂ΨῪ aA , > la a , A 

I. Kai ἤκουσα φωνῆς μεγάλης ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ λεγούσης τοῖς 

ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλοις: Ὕπάγετε καὶ ἐκχέατε τὰς ἐπτὰ φιάλας τοῦ 
θυμοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς τὴν γῆν. 


1. And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, 
Go and pour the seven vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. 


(S.=peydrns φωνῆς, ἐκχέετε.) 

We have had φωνῆς μεγάλης hitherto translated “a loud 
voice.” The “great voice” out of the Temple is the voice of 
God, for the Temple is filled with the smoke of His majesty, 
and noonecan enter it. He commands the seven angels to pour 
the seven vials of the wrath of God “ upon the earth "--εἰς τὴν 
ynv—as in R. vili.5. Here the whole Empire is inview. These 
vials contain the plagues, but there is no further allusion to 
them as being the “‘ last plagues.” The command was given 
to all the angels simultaneously. They were sent together to 
destroy the Empire of Rome. ‘Therefore shall her plagues 
come in one day, death and mourning and famine” (R. xviii. 8). 
For convenience of description they are taken in turn, as the 
first, the second, etc. 


THE ROMAN THEME 711 


2. Καὶ ἀπῆλθεν ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ἐξέχεεν τὴν φιάλην αὐτοῦ 
εἰς τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἐγένετο ἕλκος κακὸν καὶ πονηρὸν ἐπὶ τοὺς 
ἀνθρώπους τοὺς ἔχοντας τὸ χάραγμα τοῦ θηρίου καὶ τοὺς 
προσκυνοῦντας τῇ εἰκόνι αὐτοῦ. 

2. And the first went out and poured out his vial upon the earth, and 


there fell a sore and grievous wound upon the men who had the mark of 
the beast, and upon them who adored his image. 


The first angel poured his vial εἰς τῆν γῆν, and there fell a sore 
upon the men who had the mark of the Beast, χάραγμα τοῦ 
θηρίου. There is no mistaking the class of persons upon whom 
the vials are poured. They are Cesar worshippers, those who 
adored the image of the Beast. 

“A bad and malignant sore,” would seem to be the meaning 
of ἕλκος κακὸν καὶ πονηρὸν, above. This was one of the plagues 
of Egypt (Deut. xxviii. 27 and 35). It is described as “ boils 
and swelling blains both in men and beasts in the whole land 
of Egypt” (Exod. ix. 9). 

In the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the Parthian war, though 
‘successful, brought upon the Empire the great plague or pesti- 
lence of A.D. 166, which caused great loss of life, especially in 
Italy (Gibbon, of. cit. xii.). In the reign of Valerian another 
great bubonic plague devastated the Empire, A. D. 250, 260. It 
is said by Eusebius that it was not so severe upon the Christians 
as upon the Jews and Romans (H. E. vii. 22). Under Gallienus, 
son and successor of Valerian, the plague increased in virulence. 
Gibbon describes it : 

‘‘Famine is almost always followed by epidemic diseases. 
Other causes must, however, have contributed to the furious 
plague which, from the year 250 to the year 265, raged without in- 
terruption in every province, every city, and almost every family of 
the Roman Empire. During some time 5,000 persons died daily in 
Rome, and many towns that had escaped the hands of the barbarians 
were entirely depopulated. ... Half the people of Alexandria 
perished; and could we extend the analogy to the other provinces 
we might suspect that war, pestilence, and famine had consumed in 
a few years the moiety of the human species” (*‘D. and F.,” cap. x.). 


Eusebius describes the famine and plague in the time of 
Maximin, A.D. 308: ‘ Aspecies of ulcer called by an epithet the 
carbuncle on account of its inflammatory appearance ” (H. E. 
ix. 8). 

In the reign of Justinian, A.D. 542, an epidemic of bubonic 
plague attacked the Roman Empire. There were ten thousand 
deaths a dayin Constantinople. In several districts of Italy the 
harvest and the vintage withered in the ground for’ want of 
reapers (“ Ὁ. and F.,” xliii.). 


312 THE REVELATION 


_This vial recalls the pale horse; “and he that sat upon him 
his name was death.” ὁ θάνατος, ‘ pestilence.” See R. vi. 8, 
notes. 


3. Καὶ ὁ δεύτερος ἄγγελος ἐξέχεεν τὴν φιάλην αὐτοῦ εἰς 
τὴν θάλασσαν " καὶ ἐγένετο αἷμα ὡς νεκροῦ, καὶ πᾶσα ψυχὴ 
ζωῆς ἀπέθανεν τὰ ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ. 

3. And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea, and it came 
blood as it were of a dead man, and every living soul died in the sea. 


(S. omits ἄγγελος.) 

When the second angel in the Jewish theme sounded the 
trumpet, “as it were a great mountain, burning with fire, was 
cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood ” 
(R. viii. 8, where see notes). We have seen that the sea is used 
as a figure of mankind. Here the whole, nota third part of the 
Empire, is deluged with the blood of its inhabitants—s νεκροῦ, 
as it were the blood of the dead. This imagery is derived from 
the O.T., the first plague of Egypt, where all waters were turned 
into blood (Exod. vii. 19-21). The four living creatures called 
special attention to the red horse of battle, the black horse of 
famine, the pale horse of pestilence, and Death, “Come thou 
and see,” R. vi. 3,8. These are the real forces in action in the 
outpouring of the vials of God’s wrath. 
fzyNeedless to say, no student of Roman history could take 
this passage literally. It is symbolism. 8. John uses up the 
symbolism of earth, air, and water, to show us that no part of 


the Empire would escape the visitation of God’s plagues on 
Rome. 


4. Kat ὁ τρίτος ἐξέχεεν τὴν φιάλην αὐτοῦ εἰς τοὺς ποτα- 
μοὺς καὶ εἰς τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων: καὶ ἐγένετο αἷμα. 

4. And the third poured out his vial upon the rivers and the fountains of 
waters, and there was made blood. 

(S. omits the second εἰς.) 

In the Jewish theme a great star fell from heaven upon the 
rivers and fountains of water, the sources of the sea of life, and the 
third part of the waters became “ wormwood.” We have seen 
that the reference is to the slaughter of women and children by 
the Romans in the Jewish war. The Seer uses the expression 
“wormwood” there to mark the fulfilment of prophecies (see 
R. viii. 10, notes). Here the “rivers and fountains,” ‘‘ women and 
children,” are turned into blood. In the same way the two wit- 
nesses had power over waters to turn them into blood (R. xi. 6). 
The barbarian hordes who invaded Rome had no mercy, 


THE ROMAN THEME 313 


slaying all regardless of age or sex. Many Christians were 
doubtless involved in this indiscriminate slaughter. They were 
not protected by any special mark from the fury of the invading 
hordes who devastated Italy and repeatedly sacked Rome. 
S. Leo the Great succeeded in saving Rome from the Huns. 
under Attila in the year 452. He persuaded Genseric to restrain 
the Vandals from destroying the city and putting the inhabi- 
tants to the sword in 455. Christians who sought sanctuary in 
their churches were often spared, and the Church flourished 
in the period under review, but still there must have been a very 
large number of Christians who participated in the sufferings 
which overwhelmed the Empire. 


ἈΝ ᾿» “A > ’ aA 58 , λ id 
5. Kai ἤκουσα τοῦ ἀγγέλου τῶν ὑδάτων λέγοντος. 
΄, > > ~ 
Δίκαιος εἶ, ὁ ὧν Kal 6 ἦν ὁ ὅσιος, ὅτι ταῦτα ἔκρινας. 


5. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Thou art just, O Lord, 
who art and who wast, the holy one, because thou hast judged these 
things. 


“The angel of the waters,” is a new expression. It cannot 
apply to any of the angels who poured out the vials of wrath. 
They are introduced as the “ seven angels having the seven last 
plagues”’ (R. xv. 1-6). When later any one of them speaks 
the Seer defines him as of the seven angels who had 
the seven vials (R. xvii. 1, xxi. 9). Moreover the angels 
of the vials are in heaven, pouring down the wrath of God, 
whereas the “ angel of the waters” is on earth, and his remarks 
on the justice of God’s judgments are answered by another 
angel from the altar in heaven. The angel of the waters is not 
a spiritual Angel. The Seer explains the waters as peoples and 
nations and tongues (R. xvii. 15). The angel of the waters is 
the angel of the Church in the third or Pergamus age, which 
corresponds with the age of the decline and fall of Rome. To 
him it was said, ‘“‘These things saith he that hath the sharp two- 
edged sword, I know where thou dwellest, where the seat of 
Satan is” (R. ii. 12 f.). The Bishop of Rome was the angel 
referred to. We may imagine him to be Pope S. Leo. He saw 
his flock involved in the punishment of idolatrous Rome, and 
he put up this prayer to heaven, “ Thou art just, O Lord... 
because thou hast judged these things.” 


314 THE REVELATION 


ν ν δ τὸν Ν lal 267 Ν ς 
6. Ὅτι αἵμα ἁγίων καὶ προφητῶν ἐξέχεαν, καὶ αἷμα 
αὐτοῖς ἔδωκας πεῖν, ἀξιοί εἰσιν. 


_6. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast 
given them blood to drink, for they deserved it. 


(S.= δέδωκας.) 

For they, that is the Romans, “ have shed the blood of saints 
and prophets;” where ἁγίων are Christians generally, and 
προφητῶν, those who have the word of God—preachers, the 
ecclesiastical hierarchy. Their souls cried out from “ under 
the altar,” “dost thou not judge and revenge our blood” 
(R. vi. 10). We have heard the angel at R. xiv. 7, saying, 
‘The hour of his judgment is come.’”’ We have seen the wine- 
press at R. xiv. 20, “‘and blood came out of the winepress even 
up to horses’ bridles.” The angel of the waters, notwithstand- 
ing the sufferings of his flock, proclaims the justice of God’s 
judgments on “ the Romans,” for they “ deserved it.” In saying 
‘thou hast given them blood to drink’ he expresses meta- 
phorically the effect of the vials: blood is revenged by blood. 
This application of the lex talionis is repeatedly justified as we 
go on. 


7. Kat ἤκουσα τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου λέγοντος, Nat, Κύριε 
ὁ Θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ἀληθιναὶ καὶ δίκαιαι at κρίσεις σου. 


7. And I heard another from the altar saying, Yea,O Lord God Almighty, 
true and just are thy judgments. 


Τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, “of the altar,” the angel who had power 
over fire, or punishment (R. xiv. 18). He confirms the praise 
of the angel of the waters, almost in the words of the canticle 
of Moses and of the Lamb, “True and just are thy ways, 
O King of ages” (R. xv. 3). Thus heaven and earth bear 
testimony to the justice of the punishments, past and to come, 
upon the doomed Empire. Later on, the whole host of heaven 
cry out, “For true and just are his judgments who hath 
judged the great harlot ’’ (R. xix. 2). 


8 Ἀ ε id > / \ 4, > “A >. % Ν 
. Καὶ ὁ τέταρτος ἐξέχεεν τὴν φιάλην αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν 
ν lal 

ἥλιον - καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ καυματίσαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐν πυρί. 


8. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and it was 
given to him to afflict men with heat and fire. 


In R. viii. 12 the fourth angel sounds his trumpet, and the 
third part of the sun, moon, and stars are smitten. This has 


THE ROMAN THEME 315 


been interpreted to mean the spiritual destitution that fell upon 
the Israelites. But the foregoing verse appears to. apply to 
the sun literally, for the vial being poured upon the sun, its 
heat increases: it burns like fire. It is interpreted by the next 
verse, which shows the effect of the sun’s blazing heat. 


Ἀ 3 ’ ε cll A Ν X 

9. Kat ἐκαυματίσθησαν ot ἄνθρωποι καῦμα μὲγα, καὶ 
ἐβλασφήμησαν τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἔχοντος ἐξουσίαν 
ἐπὶ τὰς πληγὰς ταύτας, καὶ οὐ μετενόησαν δοῦναι αὐτῷ 


δόξαν. 


9. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the 
name of God who hath power over these plagues, neither did they penance 
to give him glory. 


Here we have the vial interpreted as a plague of heat, which 
scorched men. Dionysius of Alexandria gives an account of 
the excessive heat which afflicted a great part of the Roman 
Empire. He represents the Nile as having dried up. Drought 
usually accompanies periods of excessive heat, and famine 
follows drought. “ Neither did they penance to give him glory,” 
as applied to idolaters, means that they continued in their 
worship of strange gods, and despised the Christian God, whose 
gospel of penance they rejected. It is an echo of ‘ Neither 
have they done penance” at R. ix. 21, and is probably meant 
to connect these visions together as pagan punishments, for 
that is the Seer’s plan. 

Pagan Rome supplicated her false gods the more, the more 
she was afflicted. So with reference to the Assyrians, “ saith 
the Lord and my name is continually blasphemed all the day 
long” (Isa. lii. 5). The Roman idolaters blasphemed the name 
of God actually as well as by Cesar worship. They called 
upon Christians to curse Christ. Pliny the younger stated 
in his letter to Trajan, “ Omnes et imaginem tuam, deorumque 
stmulacra venerati sunt et Christo maledixerunt.” Dionysius 
tells us that in the Decian persecution at Alexandria, ‘It was 
impossible for any Christian to go into the streets, even at 
night, for the mob was shouting that all who would not blas- 
pheme should be burnt.” (Jn. Chapman, the Cath. Encyc.) 
But heat and fire connote all manner of plagues. 


316 THE REVELATION 


Lal Ν ἌΝ 

10. Καὶ ὁ πέμπτος ἐξέχεεν τὴν φιάλην αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν 

θρόνον τοῦ θηρίου, καὶ ἐγένετο ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ ἑσκοτω- 
μένη, καὶ ἐμασῶντο τὰς γλώσσας αὐτῶν ἐκ τοῦ πόνου. 


το. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast, 
and his kingdom became dark, and they gnawed their tongues for pain. 


The fifth angel poured out his vial upon the throne of the 
Beast, τὸν θρόνον τοῦ θηρίου, showing that the Beast is a King. 
His Throne is erected at the seat of Empire. If the Beast be 
Cesar, then the seat of the Beast is Rome. Weare told in the 
next chapter, ‘‘ the seven heads” of the Beast ‘‘ are seven moun- 
tains upon which the woman sitteth. “The woman... is the 
great city ... which has dominion over the kings of the earth.” 
“* And on her forehead a name written . . . Babylon the Great ” 
(R. xvii. 9, 18, 5), a combination of indications which spell 
Rome. Babylon was the mystic name of Rome. Spiritually, 
Rome could not be made darker. But politically, the brilliancy 
of Rome, Ja ville lumiére of her day, could be extinguished, and 
the city plunged in the darkness of despair. Alaric in A.D. 410, 
Attila, A.D. 451, Genseric, A.D. 455, Odoacer, A.D. 476, and 
Totila in A.D. 546, captured and pillaged Rome. Procopius 
tells us that Totila burnt the city down and destroyed the 
inhabitants. ‘‘ Genseric repeatedly invaded Italy and plundered 
the capital’? (Gibbon, Ὁ. and F. xxxi.). But the whole king- 
dom, “ ἡ βασιλεία," became dark. Defeat and death and cap- 
tivity abroad, added to pillage and slaughter in the capital, 
disorganised the State, and filled the minds of the Senate 
and people with an abiding gloom. They gnawed their tongues 
on account of their accumulated sufferings—the bubonic plague, 
the scorching heat, the drought, the famine, the invasions of 
barbarous hordes, defeats and bloodshed. 


11. Kat ἐβλασφήμησαν τὸν Θεὸν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐκ τῶν 
πόνων αὐτῶν καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἑλκῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐ μετενόησαν 
ἐκ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν. 

11. And they blasphemed the God of heaven, because of their pains and 
wounds, and did not penance from their works. 


This is a repetition of verse 9. Like the Egyptians, the 
Romans hardened their hearts, as plague followed plague. 
“They did not penance for the work of their hands that they 
should not adore devils, and idols of gold and silver ” connects 
R. ix. 20 with the above. Ἔκ τῶν ἔργων is translated “ for the 
works” at R. ix. 20, here “ from their works.” 


THE ROMAN THEME 317 


The conduct of the Christian martyrs at R. vi. 15, 17, who 
feared God and the wrath of the Lamb, in the midst of furious 
persecution, is in striking contrast with that of the pagans, who 
blasphemed the more, the more they were punished. 


12. Καὶ 6 ἕκτος ἐξέχεεν τὴν φιάλην αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν ποτα- 
μὸν τὸν μέγαν τὸν Εὐφράτην - καὶ ἐξηράνθη τὸ ὕδωρ αὐτοῦ, 
ἵνα ἑτοιμασθῇ ἡ ὁδὸς τῶν βασιλέων τῶν ἀπὸ ἀνατολῆς 
ἡλίου. 

12. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, 


and dried up the water thereof, that a way might be prepared for the Kings 
from the rising sun. 


We have here an allusion to the same Parthian and Persian 
wars which were in the Jewish theme, veiled in the figure of the 
four angels loosed in the great river Euphrates. With cha- 
racteristic attention to significant details, the Seer makes the 
sixth trumpet angel correspond with the sixth vial angel in 
loosing the forces of the Euphrates, ἐπὶ τῷ ποταμῷ τῷ μεγάλῳ 
Εὐφράτῃ (R.ix.14,notes). ‘The Kings from the rising sun,” that 
is the Kings of the East, who dwelt beyond the Euphrates, were 
the Parthians and Persians. They were a menace to Rome 
when the Apocalypse was written. The Seer has to convey 
to the servants of God in the first century tidings of hostile inva- 
sions which would break up the Roman power. The Euphrates 
was the only possible illustration. Besides, the Prophet 
Jeremias had predicted this of the enemies of God, ‘‘the 
sword shall devour, and shall be filled, and shall be drunk with 
their blood, for there is a sacrifice of the Lord God of hosts in 
the north country by the river Euphrates” (xlvi. 10). We, 
who are enlightened by history, know that the Euphrates is a 
symbol of invading hordes from ‘‘ the north country,” from the 
Danube, as well from the East. But the prophecy, even as 
regards the Euphrates, was literally and amply fulfilled. 


‘During the reign of Valerian, Sapor, King of Persia, spread 
devastation and terror on the borders of the Euphrates. Valerian 
marched against him, and was defeated, and taken prisoner. The 
Romans lost a great part of their army in battle by famine and 
pestilence. Sapor used the Roman Emperor Valerian as his foot- 
stool when he mounted his horse. When Valerian died of shame 
and grief, his skin, stuffed with straw, and formed into the likeness 
of a human body, was long preserved in one of the great temples of 
Persia. 

“In the reign of Diocletian the Roman army was utterly routed 
and destroyed by the Persians in the plains of Mesopotamia. 


/ 


318 THE REVELATION 


“During the long period of Constantius’s reign the provinces of 
the East were afflicted by the calamities of the Persian war. The 
Roman and Persian armies encountered each other in nine bloody 
fields, which were commonly adverse to the Romans, in some cases 
with great slaughter” (Gibbon, cap. xviii.). 

Probus and Julian were slain during the Persian war. “ Jovian, 
who succeeded Julian, concluded an ignominious peace with the 
Persians under Sapor, which has justly been considered a memorable 
era in the decline and fall of the Roman Empire” (Gibbon, cap. 
XXIV.). 


The drying up of the Euphrates for the passage of the Kings 
of the East is an image founded on the passage of the Red 
Sea by the Israelites. The plagues of Egypt are still in view. 
We must bear in mind, too, the hariolation which predicted 
that Nero should flee to Parthia, and reconquer his kingdom 
with the aid of Parthians. The Seer twice refers to the 
Euphrates as a great river. Near Busra, where he is said to 
have preached the Gospel, it was half a mile wide and from 
3 to 5 fathoms deep, and from thence its course ran inland for 
1,600 miles. Ἢ 


> Wes 3 aA , aA , ἌΓ “ 

13. Καὶ εἶδον ἐκ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ δράκοντος καὶ ἐκ τοῦ 

στόματος τοῦ θηρίου καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ ψευδοπρο- 
φήτου πνεύματα τρία ἀκάθαρτα, ὡς βάτραχοι. 


13. And I saw from the mouth of the dragon, and from the mouth of the 
cre and from the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, like 
rogs. 

Kal, “ and,” again introduces quite a new idea. The Dragon, 
the Beast, and the false prophet, form a triumvirate, banded 
together for the defence of Czsar worship and the oppression 
of Christianity. The false prophet is not introduced asa new- 
comer. On thecontrary the Seer assumes that his readers know 
him well. He is the lamb-like beast ‘‘ who seduced them that 
dwell on the earth by the signs, which were given him to 
perform in the sight of the beast, that they should make an 
image of the beast” (R. xiii. 14). Later on the Seer identifies 
him with this two-horned lamb, where he says, “ And the beast 
was taken, and with him the false prophet, who wrought signs 
before him, wherewith he seduced them who received the mark 
of the beast” (R xix. 20). The false prophet represents the 
high priests of idolatry, whose action is shown at R. xiii. 11-14. 

In the N.T., unclean spirits mean demons (Matt. x. 1; 
Mark i. 7; Luke iv. 36; Acts v. 16, viii. 7). They are devilish 
counsels or designs, as explained in the next verse. Frog-like, 


THE ROMAN THEME 319 


unclean, cold-blooded, crafty designs. “Iwill go forth and be a 
lying spirit in the mouth of all his aber ” (3 Kings xxii. 22). 
In 1 Jhn. iv. 1, we find πνεύματα and ψευδοπροφῆται occurring 
in a connection which shows that the Seer had false prophecies 
in view. In translating these weird symbols into deeds we must | 
keep the facts of Roman history before us. 


14. Εἰσὶν “γὰρ πνεύματα δαιμονίων ποιοῦντα σημεῖα, ἃ 
ἐκπορεύεται ἐπὶ τοὺς βασιλεῖς τῆς οἰκουμένης ὅλης, συναγα- 
ye, αὐτοῦς εἰς τὸν πόλεμον τῆς ἡμέρας τῆς μεγάλης τοῦ 
Θεοῦ τοῦ παντοκράτορος. 


14. For they are the spirits of devils working signs, and they go forth 
unto the Kings of the whole earth to gather them to battle against the 
great day of the Almighty God. 


The unclean spirits are the spirits of demons working signs, 
which signs go forth to the whole world (oicoupévns ὅλης---ἃ5 at 
R. iii. 10 and xii. 9). They go to the confines of the Empire of 
Rome, gathering outside Kings to her aid against the great day 
of battle with Almighty God. The day of God, in the O.T., 
is the day of His wrath, when He will punish His enemies 
(Isa. xiii. 6, Ezech. xiii. 5). 

The triumvirate, seeing the Empire invaded north and east, 
resolved to gather all their forces to battle. Many new and 
semi-independent kingdoms were established within and beyond 
the Empire. In those days kings were set against kings, by dis- 
simulation, bribery, and lies. The Empire sought and found 
allies amongst its own invaders. Haruspices were consulted 
before war was declared or battle given. Augurs consulted the 
omens, and predicted according to the designs of Cesar, who 
as Pontifex Maximus “managed the arts of divination as a 
convenient instrument of policy” (Gibbon, D. and F. xxviii. 
These omens were in reality “the spirits of devils working 
signs”; “ spirits of-error and doctrines of devils” (1 Tim. iv. 1). 
The false prophet with the aid of the dragon procured the 
signs. And he seduced them that dwell on the earth by the 
signs which were given him to perform” (R. xiii. 14). The 
triumvirate proclaimed that the signs were favourable. Victory 
was promised. Ambassadors carried the signs and omens of 
victory to the semi-barbarous kings, and promised them rewards. 
So they were gathered to battle. 


320 THE REVELATION 


Ἱδοὺ ἔρχομαι ὡς κλέπτης " “μακάριος ὁ γρεγορῶν 
καὶ ΤΟΝ τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ, ἵνα “μὴ γυμνὸς περιπατῇ καὶ 
βλέπωσιν τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτοῦ" 


15. Behold I come as ἃ thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth 
his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. 


“The great day of Almighty God” suggests the day of 
particular Judgment. The moral is drawn from the context 
that it will surely and unexpectedly come to all men. This 
warning was given to the angel of the persecuted Church 
of Sardis (R. iii. 3). This remark is in the nature of an “aside.” 
The disassociation of normally connected parts in the Roman 
theme is sometimes puzzling, and intentionally so, as the 
Book was written during Nero’s persecution and was not 
intended to be easy reading. ‘‘ Behold I come as a thief” 
has also an eschatological significance. This warning is 
borne out by S. Paul, “ The day of the Lord shall come as 
a thief in the night’ (1 Thess. v. 2). See also 2 Peter iii. ro. 
The shame of nakedness brings to mind the faults of the Church 
of Laodicea (R. iii. 18). 

The preparations for the great battle are resumed in the next 
verse. 


Ν ’ 3 Ν > A ld Ν, UA 
16, Καὶ συνήγαγεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν τόπον τὸν καλούμενον 
“EBpaiori “Αρμαγεδών. 


16. And he shall gather them together into a place which is called in 
Hebrew Armagedon, 


(S.="Ap Μαγεδών.) 

‘And he shall gather them together” into a place which is 
called “ Armagedon,” refers to R. xvi. 14 =“ συναγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς 
εἰς τὸν πόλεμον." The Roman forces, the Beast, the false 
prophet, and the Kings of the earth, are gathered together to 
battle against God Almighty. Their doom is sealed in advance. 

Armagedon is identified with the great plain of Esdraelon, 
some fifteen miles S.W. of Nazareth, the terrain of Jewish and 
Assyrian battles. See Judges iv. 13, 16, v. 19. Ochosias, King 
of Juda, was slain at Mageddo (4 Kings ix. 27). King Josias 
was slain there (4 Kings xxiii. 29, 30). The name of Mageddo 
had become a symbol of lamentations amongst the Jews (Zach. 
xii. 11). For this reason it is adopted as an omen of the fate 
of the pagan armies metaphorically gathered there. Dr. Swete 
makes the name ““Ap Μαγεδών,᾽ “the waters of Magedon,” 
1.6., the river Kishon, which flows through the plain of Esdraelon 


THE ROMAN THEME 321 


(of cit., p. 209). In any case the reference is to the old battle- 
field. 

The battle of “‘Armagedon”’ is only adumbrated here, as it 
is reserved as a dramatic conclusion to the Roman theme 
(Chapter xix.). It is a summing up of the centuries of warfare 
of paganism against Christianity, shown as a pageant of the 
triumph of Christ. 


17. Kat ὁ ἕβδομος ἔξέχεεν τὴν φιάλην αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν 
ἀέρα: καὶ ἐξῆλθεν φωνὴ μεγάλη ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ 
θρόνου λέγουσα, Téyover. 


17. And the seventh angel poured out his vial upon the air, and a great 
voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, It is done. 


We have had the earth, the sea, the rivers and fountains of 
waters, the sun, and the throne of the Beast, afflicted with the 
vials of God’s wrath. The last vial is poured upon the air, the 
vital air, the air we breathe (τὸν κοινὸν ἀέρα, Wisd. vii. 3), to 
symbolise the complete extinction of pagan Rome. And a 
great voice came out of the Temple (of Judgment), saying, “ It 
is done,” 1.6., the Roman Empire is annihilated. The great 
voice “ from the throne ”’ is the voice of God. The plagues or 
vials are done ; judgment is accomplished. 


Ν 5 4 > Ν Ν Ἀ Ν ,’ A 
18. Kat ἐγένοντο ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταΐ, καὶ 
σεισμὸς ἐγένετο μέγας, οἷος οὐκ ἐγένετο ἀφ᾽ οὗ ἄνθρωποι 
an lal A 9 m 
ἐγένοντο ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τηλικοῦτος σεισμὸς οὕτω μέγας. 


18. And there were lightnings and voices and thunders, and there was a 
great earthquake, such as never hath been since men were upon the earth, 
such an earthquake, so great. 


(3.-Ξ- ἀνθροπὸς ἐγένετο.) 

“ And from the throne proceeded lightnings and voices and 
thunderings” (R. iv. 5). See also R. viii. 5, which introduces 
an earthquake, emblematic of the downfall of Judaism. The 
earthquake is repeated at R. xi. 13, when the tenth part of the city 
of Jerusalem fell. The seven vials have overthrown the Roman 
Empire. So great a political earthquake was never seen since 
men were upon the earth, for the Roman Empire was the 
greatest which the world had everseen. To get the significance 
of this great earthquake one must try to realise the position of 
Rome in the first century of the Christian Era. 


21 


322 THE REVELATION 


19. Kat ἐγένετο ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη εἰς τρία μέρη. καὶ αἱ 
πόλεις τῶν ἐθνῶν ἔπεσαν. καὶ Βαβυλὼν ἡ ἡ μεγάλη ἐμνήσθη 
ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, δοῦναι αὐτῇ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ 
θυμοῦ τῆς ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ. 


19. And the great city was made into three parts, and the cities of the 
Gentiles fell, and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to 
give her the cup of the wine of the indignation of his wrath. 


The seven vials have been poured out—els τὴν yjv—upon the 
Roman Empire (R. xvi. 1). And as the result of this action 
the great city was made into three parts. The great city is put 
for Imperial Rome, which was divided in the course of time, 
into three parts, archeological Rome, Papal Rome, and Anti- 
papal Rome. The cities of the Gentiles (τῶν εθνῶν), the cities 
of Italy, were destroyed by the Huns, the Goths, and other 
invaders. 

The chastisement of the capital city, Rome, is reserved for 
special mention in the next chapter. So ‘Great Babylon” 
comes “in remembrance before God to give her the cup” of 
His wrath. “Babylon” has already suffered much. It has 
participated in all the plagues that have worn down the Empire. 
“The fifth angel poured his vial on the seat of the Beast and 
his kingdom became dark” (R. xvi. 10). But that is not 
enough. ‘ Babylon” is the chief sinner, and many figures will 
be devoted to symbolising its complete destruction. 


20. Kai πᾶσα νῆσος ἔφυγεν, καὶ ὄρη οὐχ εὑρέθησαν. 
20. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 


In the prediction of the ten persecutions we are told “ every 
mountain and the islands were moved out of their places” 
(R. vi. 14). That figure was put as a symbol of the dispersion 
of the great Christian Churches by persecution. The same 
figure is employed here to denote the complete overthrow of the 
political power of Rome in all its provinces, great and small. 
These figures are strongly contrasted. The Christian Churches 
were moved out of their places. The Provincial Governments 
and Consulships of Rome were found no more. They ceased 
to exist. 


THE ROMAN THEME 323 


21. Kai “χάλαζα “μεγάλη ὡς ταλαντιαία καταβαίνει ἐκ 
τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους" καὶ ἐβλασφήμησαν ou 
ἄνθρωποι τὸν Θεὸν. ἐκ en πληγῆς τῆς χαλάζης ὅτι μεγάλη 
ἐστὶν ἡ πληγὴ αὐτῆς σφόδρα. 

21. And great hail like a talent came down from heaven upon men, and 


men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for it was exceed- 
ing great. 


We have had hail at R. viii. 7 (where see notes). It was a 
symbol of punishment falling on the Jews. We had it again at 
R. xi. 19, where the temple of judgment was opened, “‘lightnings 
and voices and an earthquake and great hail,’”’ symbols of God’s 
wrath. Hail was a symbol of God’s wrath in the O.T. It was 
the seventh plague of Egypt (Exod. ix. 22-25). See Josu. x. II; 
Isa., xxviii. 2; and Ezech. xxxvili.22. The great engines of war- 
fare in early days were catapults, which hurled rocks weighing 

“talent” of 124 lbs. In S. John’s time there was nothing 
more graphic of destruction than this great hail of rocks. It is 
a fitting climax to the action of the seventh and last vial.. 


CHAPTER XVII 


Tuis chapter is devoted to explaining the chief symbols of the 
Roman theme. S. John throws as much further light on the 
subject as he can, in view of the lynx-eyed Roman authorities. 
The explanations given look forward to the destruction of Rome 
and the battle of Armagedon, as well as backward to the Beast. 
They confirm the reading that the Beast is Cesar, and that 
everything connected with the Beast, such as the ‘‘ seven last 
plagues,” relates to the Roman Empire. “Great Babylon” is 
remembered and brought into prominence. 


. Kat ἦλθεν εἷς ἐκ τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλων τῶν ἐχόντων τὰς 
ἑπτὰ φιάλας, καὶ ἐλάλησεν μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ λέγων Δεῦρο, δείξω 
σοι τὸ κρίμα τῆς πόρνης τῆς μεγάλης τῆς καθημένης ἐπὶ 
ὑδάτων πολλῶν. 

1. And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven vials and 
spoke with me, saying, Come, I will show thee the condemnation of the 
great harlot who sitteth upon many waters. 


One of the seven angels who had the seven vials spoke to 
S. John, saying, I will show thee the condemnation (τὸ κρίμα) 


224 THE REVELATION 


of the great harlot. We take this angel to be the angel 
referred to in R. i. 1, ‘and signified sending by his angel to his 
servant John.” He reveals his identity further, later on. [ is 
his task to signify or explain through Jesus Christ the impor- 
tant symbols of the obscure Roman theme. We have a similar 
usage of the verb onuaivw—“ to point out ’—in the Acts, where 
Agabus “signified by the Spirit that there should be a great 
famine ”’ (xi. 28). 

Κρίμα, translated “ condemnation” here, but “judgment” at 
R. xviii. 20 and R. xx. 4, connects with οὐ κρίνεις at R. vi. 10 - 
—“dost thou not judge” (the martyrs’ cry). The time has 
come to judge and revenge their blood on Rome. The 
angel said: “1 will show thee the judgment of the great 
harlot who sitteth upon many waters.” ‘ Harlotry” is scrip- 
tural symbolism for idolatry. Rome that “made all nations 
drink of the wine... of her fornication” (R. xiv. 8) was 
the ‘‘ great harlot.” 

““Who sitteth upon many waters” is epexegetical. The 
angel explains, later on, that “the waters . . . where the harlot 
sitteth are peoples and nations and tongues” =the polyglot 
inhabitants of the Empire. This connects with other indica- 
tions of Rome. We have seen that “ the angel of the waters” 
approved her punishments (R. xvi. 5). 


2. Me? ἧς ἐπόρνευσαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς, Kal ἐμεθύσ- 
θησαν οἱ κατοικοῦντες τὴν γῆν ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου τῆς πορνείας 
αὐτῆς. 

2. With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and 


they who inhabit the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her 
prostitution. 


With the great harlot, the kings of the earth, τῆς γῆς, have 
committed fornication. The phrase “ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου. .. τῆς 
πορνείας αὐτῆς, taken from R. xiv. 8, shows that the angel has 
“sreat Babylon” in view. Altering the translation from 
‘fornication ” to “ prostitution” obscures the reference. 

Rome worshipped and erected temples to all the gods of all 
her subject nations. There were 420 temples in Rome, so that 
visitors from all parts could find their own particular gods, and 
practise their national rites of idolatry. But Cesar worship 
was the form of idolatry chiefly practised when the Apocalypse: 
was written. That was the wine of Rome’s prostitution. 

Idolatrous Tyre is described as a harlot in Isaias xxiii. 15, 16, 
17. So also Ninive: “ Because of the multitude of the fornica- 
tions of the harlot”? (Nahum iii. 4). “ Babylon hath been a 


THE ROMAN THEME 325 


golden cup in the hand of the Lord, that made all the earth 
drunk. The nations have drunk of her wine ” (Jer. li. 7). 

Verse xvii. 2 above is practically repeated at R. xviii. 3, in 
which chapter (xviii.) the destruction of Rome, under the symbol 
of Babylon, is described. | 


3. Kat ἀπήνεγκέν pe εἰς ἔρημον ἐν πνεύματι, καὶ εἶδον 
γυναῖκα καθημένην ἐπὶ θηρίον κόκκινον, ee ὀνόματα 
βλασφημίας, ἔχον κεφαλὰς ἑπτὰ καὶ κέρατα δέκα 


3. And he took me away in spirit into the desert. And I saw a woman 
sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having 
seven heads and ten horns. 


(S. = γέμοντα.) 

The desert here is the spiritual desert of paganism. In this 
desert the Seer saw a woman, on whose forehead was written 
“‘ Babylon the Great ” (R. xvii. 5). She is sitting upon a scarlet 
coloured beast, identified by its seven heads and ten horns as 
the Beast from the sea (R. xiii. 1). ‘“‘ Full of the names of 
blasphemy ”’ refers to her 420 temples, another connecting link 
with the Beast. The woman, pagan Rome, is upheld by the 
line of Czsars. The Beast is “scarlet”? with the blood of 
martyrs. 

The Seer is taken away in the spirit for the third time. 


4. Kat ἡ γυνὴ ἦν περιβεβλημένη πορφυροῦν καὶ κόκ- 
κινον, καὶ κεχρυσωμένη χρυσίῳ καὶ λίθῳ τιμίῳ καὶ ὶ μαργα- 
pita, ἔχουσα ποτήριον χρυσοῦν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτῆς γέμον 
βδελυγμάτων καὶ τὰ ἀκάθαρτα τῆς πορνείας αὐτῆς. 


4. And the woman is clothed round in purple, and scarlet and gilt with 
gold, and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full 
of the abominations and filthiness of her fornication. 


The woman, the Imperial City, is clothed round in the 
Imperial purple. When the soldiers crowned our Lord with 
the crown of thorns, they put on Him a purple garment— 
ἱμάτιον πορφυροῦν περιέβαλον (Jhn. xix. 2), in token of His King- 
ship. But Rome, as the great harlot, is adorned with scarlet, 
and gilt with gold, and precious stones and pearls. The Seer 
decks the woman with purple and scarlet and gold and precious 
stones and pearls to identify her with the City of Rome, which 
he, in turn, identifies by her traffic in these same articles. See 
R. xviii. 12. 


326 THE REVELATION 


Having a golden cup full of the abominations of her fornica- 
tion. “She ... made all nations drink of the wine of the 
wrath of her fornication” (R. xiv. 8). Dr. Swete points out 
that βδέλυγμα, “abomination,” is frequent in every part of 
the Septuagint, where it usually represents ceremonial or moral 
impurity, or an object of idolatrous worship or an idolatrous 
rite (op. cit., p. 216). We may read for “ fornication,” “ idolatry,” 
and for the filthiness thereof, its abominable character and the 
impurities which accompanied it. 


5. Kal ἐπὶ τὸ μέτωπον αὐτῆς ὄνομα γεγραμμένον, 
Μυστήριον, Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη, ἡ μήτηρ τῶν πορνῶν καὶ 
τῶν βδελυγμάτων τῆς γῆς. 


5. And on her forehead a name was written. A mystery, Babylon the 
Great, the mother of the fornications and abominations of the earth. 


On her forehead Μυστήριον, “a mystery,” as at R. 1. 20, 
“The mystery (τὸ μυστήριον) of the seven stars . . . and seven 
golden candlesticks.” It draws attention to the fact that it is a 
mystic or symbolic name. Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη we have had 
before in connection with Rome (R. xiv. 8, xvi. 19). Babylon 
was the secret name for Rome amongst Christians of the first 
century (1 Peter v.13). “The mother of the fornications and 
abominations of the earth” (τῆς γῆς), refers to her position as 


mistress of the world and chief upholder of idolatry and 
impurity. 


> A a Y A 
6. Καὶ εἶδον τὴν γυναῖκα μεθύουσαν ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος τῶν 
a lal 5 “ A > ’ὔ 
ἁγίων καὶ ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος τῶν μαρτύρων Ἰησοῦ: καὶ ἐθαύ- 
μασα ἰδὼν αὐτὴν θαῦμα μέγα. 


6. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with 


the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I had seen her I wondered 
with great admiration. 


(38. -Ξ καὶ εἶδα.) 

Θαῦμα μέγα means “ with great wonder” (see next verse). 
There is nothing to admire in the vision of the woman drunk 
with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, though much to excite 
astonishment. Admiration, in Elizabethan English, was put 
sometimes for surprise, but ἐθαύμασα and θαῦμα should be 
rendered by the same word. 


THE ROMAN THEME 327 


Drunk with blood is a metaphor expressive of the state of men 
who are obsessed with killing their fellow creatures, as were the 
French in the Reign of Terror. This metaphor is found in 
Roman literature as Dr. Swete points out, ¢.g., “‘ gustaras civilem 
sanguinem vel potius exsorbueras”’ (Cic. Phil. 11. 29). ‘‘ (Antonius) 
ebrius sanguine civium (Plin. H. N. xiv. 22, 28). See also Suet. 
Tib. 59 (op. cit. p. 217). It looks back to R. xvi. 6, and forward 
to R. xviii. 24. This passage was written in the time of Nero, 
when Rome was drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. 
S. John wondered, and all Christianity wondered at this awful 
and unsettling spectacle. 

The martyrs are classified, first, as τῶν dyov—the saints, 
ῖ.6., Christians generally ; and second, τῶν μαρτύρων ᾿Ἰησοῦ--- 
witnesses of \ gree put for the hierarchy. ‘“ For the testimony 
of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (R. xix. 10) ; for they have 
shed the blood of saints and prophets (Kt xvi. 6), prophets, in 
the sense of preachers. 


7. Kai εἶπέν μοι 6 ἄγγελος, Διατί ἐθαύμασας ; ἐγὼ ἐρῶ 
σοι τὸ μυστήριον τῆς γυναικὸς καὶ τοῦ θηρίου τοῦ Bacra- 
ζοντος αὐτήν, τοῦ ἔχοντος τὰς ἑπτὰ κεφαλὰς καὶ τὰ δέκα 

, : 
κέρατα. 


7. And the angel said to me, Why dost thou wonder? I will tell thee 
the mystery of the woman and of the beast which carrieth her, which hath 
the seven heads and ten horns. 


(S. = Διὰ ti.) 

Διατί ἐθαύμασας----“ why do you wonder ’’—from θαυμάζω---- 
“to wonder,” “το be astonished.” The angel now proceeds to 
explain the conjoint mystery of the woman and the Beast of 
R. xvii. 3. 

Compare this with Rev. vii. 13, 14, where one of the ancients 
proffers an explanation of the vision of the countless multitude 
who stood before the throne clothed with white robes. It was 
important there that no mistake should be made about the 
martyrs. It is important here that no mistake should be 
made as to the Beast and the scarlet woman, the authors 
of their martyrdom. 


328 THE REVELATION 


8. Td θηρίον ὃ εἶδες Hv Kal οὐκ ἔστιν, καὶ μέλλει ava- 
βαίνειν ἐκ τῆς ἀβύσσου καὶ εἰς ἀπώλειαν ὑπάγειν. καὶ 
θαυμάσονται οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὧν οὐ γέγραπται 

Ν * + sal Ν ’ A A“ 5 Ἄ, lal / 
TO ὄνομα ἐπὶ τὸ βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, 
3 
βλεπόντων τὸ θηρίον ὅτι ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν καὶ πάρέσται. 


8. The beast which thou sawest was and is not, and shall come up out 
of the bottomless pit and go into destruction ; and the inhabitants of the 
earth (whose names are not written in the book of life from the founda- 
tion of the world) shall wonder, seeing the beast that was and is not, and 
will reappear. 


(S. =“ “θαυμασθήσονται.) The brackets are in the Vulgate. 

To begin with the Beast, the chief actor in this drama. He 
is the Beast seen at gR. xiii. 1, and again at R. xvii.3. He is 
the Beast whose living head, Nero, was wounded to death and 
his deadly wound was healed (R. xiii. 3, where see notes), 
The Seer recurs to the current superstition regarding Nero, 
that he would be killed by the sword and go into the bottom- 
less pit, and reappear again as a conqueror, and finally go into 
destruction—eis am7@Xevav—the abode of Apolyon, the destroyer 
(R.ix. 11). The angel goes on “ of κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ᾿--- 
the enemies of the Church, whose names are not written in 
the Book of Life, ‘‘ @avpdcovrar’’—shall wonder—seeing the 
beast that was and is not, and will reappear.” The superstition 
that Nero, slain, would recover and return to reconquer his 
kingdom, was one that specially interested the Roman world. 
The soothsayers predicted it. This hariolation is brought in 
here as a clue to the enigma which follows in the next verse. 

We have had the Book of Life before, in the same use at 
R. xii. 8. The terminal words, καὶ rapéorar—‘‘and will 
reappear’’—are not in the Vulgate, and consequently not in 
the Douay Bible. Τῆς ἀβύσσου, translated “the abyss” at 
R. xi. 7, is here called “‘ the bottomless pit.” 


9. Ὧδε ὁ νοῦς ὁ ἔχων σοφίαν, ai ἑπτὰ κεφαλαὶ ἑπτὰ 
ὄρη εἰσίν, ὅπου ἡ γυνὴ κάθηται ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν, καὶ βασιλεῖς 
ἑπτά εἰσιν. 

9. And here is the understanding that hath wisdom. The seven heads 
are seven mountains, upon which the woman sitteth, and they are seven 
kings. 

S. transfers καὶ Βασιλεῖς ἑπτὰ εἰσιν to the beginning of the 


next verse, to which it properly belongs. Brandscheid follows 
the Vulgate. 


THE ROMAN THEME 329 


“The understanding that has wisdom” is an expression 
suggesting the necessity for examining this matter carefully. 
It tallies with the “‘wisdom” and ‘understanding ” called 
for at R. xiii. 18, to compute the number of the Beast. ‘‘ The 
seven heads are seven mountains upon, which the woman 
sitteth.”” The seven mountains are a clear indication of Rome, 
which was built on seven mountains, and was commonly known 
as the seven-hilled city. Sed gua@ de septem totum circumspictt 
orbem Montibus, imperit Roma deumque locus. Ovid, trist., i. 5, 
69. See also Virgil, Aen. vi. 782; Horace, carm., saec. 7; 
Propertius iii. 10; Martial iv. 64; and Cicero, ad Attic. vi. 5. 

“Great Babylon,” built upon seven mountains, is aptly de- 
scribed as seated upon seven mountains. The seven heads 
which support her, the Cesars, are also entitled to be called 
mountains in a scriptural sense (see Κα. viii. 8, notes). ‘‘ The seven 
heads are seven kings ”—‘‘ Βασιλεῖς εἰσιν. Nero the last of the 
Julian line was a true Βασιίλεύς. He inherited the throne. 
Those who came after him were simply generals commanding 
armies thrust upon the throne by their legions. 


4 
10. Οἱ πέντε ἔπεσαν. ὁ εἷς ἔστιν, 6 ἄλλος οὔπω ἦλθεν, 
τ. » 3 ’ + me." “ nw 
καὶ ὅταν ἔλθῃ ὀλίγον αὐτὸν δεῖ μεῖναι. 


10. Five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come ; and when he 
shall come he must remain a short time. 


To make this verse clear we have to repeat the last clause 
of verse 9, “ And they are seven Kings.” ‘ Five are fallen.” 
It is admitted by all that the seven Kings are Kings of Rome. 
The five fallen Kings were Julius Cesar, Augustus, Tiberius, 
Caligula, and Claudius. ‘‘One is.” That is, one, the sixth, 
still lives. Nerowas the sixth. “And the other” (the seventh 
King) ‘‘is not yet come.”” ‘“ And when he shall come he must 
remain a short time” is a prediction, which came true, for 
Galba, the seventh King, reigned only seven months. 

That Julius Czsar was the first of this line of Kings is 
generally admitted. He claimed the title of Imperator (Suet. 
Jul. 76) ; and he was the first of the Czsars, worshipped as a 
god. See p. 93. 


Ν A , ἃ > Ν > » ἈΝ 5 Ν » : , 
It. Kat τὸ θηρίον ὃ ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν, Kai αὐτὸς ὄγδοός 
ἈΝ an 4 ἈΝ 
ἐστιν, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἑπτά ἐστιν, καὶ εἰς ἀπώλειαν ὑπάγει. 


11. And the beast which was, and is not, the same is also the eighth, 
and is of the seven, and goeth into destruction. 


This verse takes us back to verse 8, ‘“‘ The beast which 
thou sawest, was and is not, and shall... go into destruc- 


330 _ THE REVELATION 


tion.” It revives the superstition concerning Nero’s death, 
and re-incarnation. Given five dead Kings, and one living 
(Nero), a seventh and an eighth are required to complete 
this legend—to bring back the sixth King—on the death 
of the seventh, We are told that the eighth King is one 
of the seven, and that he is the Beast which was and is 
not=Nero. The Beast, Nero, sixth of the line of Kings, 
dies. A seventh King, Galba, reigns for a short time, and 
dies. Then Nero revives and reappears as the eighth King. 
This is the story of Nero redivivus put into a small compass. 

“* And goeth into destruction ” is another indication of Nero. 
This is distinctly foretold of the Beast at R. xix. 20 that he 
should be ‘‘ cast alive into the pool of fire burning with brim- 
stone.” That is the destruction meant by eis ἀπώλειαν, above. 
In his solicitude for the readers’ enlightenment, the Seer has 
given every possible indication of Nero, short of naming him 
outright. This is the third specific indication that Nero is the 
wounded head of the Beast. 


12. Καὶ τὰ δέκα κέρατα ἃ εἶδες δέκα βασιλεῖς εἰσιν, 
», ΄ » » 3 &. 9 , ε ᾿ε 
ὄιτινες βασιλείαν οὔπω ἔλαβον, ἀλλὰ ἐξουσίαν ὡς βασιλεῖς 
μίαν ὥραν λαμβάνουσιν μετὰ τοῦ θηρίου. 

12. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, who have not 


yet received a kingdom, but shall receive power as kings, one hour after 
the beast. 


The ten horns were seen at R. xiii. 1, and at R. xvil. 3. At 
R. xiii. 1 (where see notes) the ten horns are crowned with regal 
diadems, in token of their kingship. The symbolism is taken 
from Daniel, whose fourth beast, the Roman Empire, had ten 
horns, “ And the ten horns of the same kingdom shall be ten 
kings ’” (Dan. vii. 24). The number ten is not intended to be 
taken literally. When the Apocalypse was written the ten Kings 
had not yet received a kingdom. They were Kings of the future, 
seen with the eye of prophecy. This prediction concerning the 
ten kings was fulfilled, and is a part of Roman history. “ They 
shall receive power as kings,” foretells their appearance. 
AapBdvovew μετὰ τοῦ θηρίου, indicates that they received power 
with the concurrence of the Beast. Μίαν épavy—“ one hour ”’—- 
indicates a short time. Compared with the Roman Empire, 
the kingdoms referred to should be short-lived, and so it 
happened. The barbarians who invaded the Empire in the 
course of time gained permission to reside within its bound- 
aries as allies; but as Rome decayed they asserted their 
independence, and established kingdoms of their own. The 


THE ROMAN THEME 331 


- Goths and Visigoths settled on the Danube, in Gaul and Italy, 

the Visigoths, the Suevi, and the Alani, in Spain and Gaul, 
the Franks on the Rhine, the Huns in Thrace, the Vandals in 
Carthage, the Heruli on the Danube, the Burgundians in 
Burgundy, the Thuringians in Germany, the Saxons in Britain, © 
and the Armoricans in Brittany. Of this number were some of 
the ten kings whose ‘‘ hour” has long since passed away. See 
in this connection “ Rome,” Encyc. Brit. vol. xx. p. 780. 


ΑΝ , , » ‘ Ν , Ν 
13. Οὗτοι μίαν γνώμην ἔχουσιν, καὶ τὴν δύναμιν καὶ 
ἐξουσίαν αὐτῶν τῷ θηρίῳ διδόασιν. 


13. These have one design, and their strength and power they shall 
deliver to the beast. 


These kingdoms have one design—péav yvounv—which we 
find later is to do the will of God; ποιῆσαι μίαν yrdounv—< to 
carry out one design,” to “ give their kingdoms to the beast 
until the words of God be fulfilled” (R. xvii. 17). Pending 
that time, they give the Beast, δύναμιν καὶ ἐξουσίαν, as the 
dragon gave the Beast, “‘strength” and “ power” (R. xiii. 2). 
They join forces with the Beast at the battle of Armagedon. 


a κ A 3 , , Sti, ayy 29 , 
14. Οὗτοι μετὰ τοῦ ἀρνίου πολεμήσουσιν καὶ Td ἀρνίον 
9 a 
νικήσει αὐτούς, OTL κύριος κυρίων ἐστὶν καὶ βασιλεὺς βασι- 
3 Lal 
λέων, καὶ οἱ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ κλητοὶ Kal ἐκλεκτοὶ καὶ πιστοί. 


14. These shall fight with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, 
because he is Lord of Lords, and King of Kings ; and they that are with 
him are called, and elect, and faithful. 


The ten kings are in alliance with the Beast, and assist him 
in fighting with the Lamb. . They are the kings—“‘ rns οἰκουμένης 
ὅλης ’—“‘ of the whole earth” at R. xvi. 14 (where see notes). 
They were gathered together to battle—“ εἰς τὸν πόλεμον "--- 
against the great day of Almighty God. The same battle is in 
view here. “Πολεμήσουσιν μετὰ τοῦ ἀρνίου,᾽ “ They shall fight 
with the Lamb.” The battle of Armagedon is described in 
Chapter XIX., where the Lamb appears as leader of the heavenly 
host, with this title written on his garments and on his thigh, 
“ King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” Because of this, the Lamb 
shall conquer them—“ νικήσει αὐτούς. 

And they that are with him—yer’ avrod—“ are called, and 
elect, and faithful.” ‘‘The Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and 
with him—vyer’ avrot—one hundred and forty-four thousand,” 
‘‘who were purchased from the earth, who were not defiled 
with women, who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth” 


332 THE REVELATION 


(R. xiv. 1f.). This'is the advance description of ‘‘ they that are 
with him.” The primitive Hebrew Christians, especially the 
Apostles, were “called and elect and faithful.” The different 
references to the battle of Armagedon correspond very closely. 


15. Kat λέγει μοι, Ta ὕδατα ἃ εἶδες, οὗ ἡ πόρνη κάθη- 
ται, λαοὶ καὶ ὄχλοι εἰσὶν καὶ ἔθνη καὶ γλῶσσαι. 


15. And he said to me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot 
sitteth, are peoples and nations and tongues. 


The angel began his explanation of the mystery of the “ harlot” 
and the Beast with information as to the Beast. He now turns 
to the “harlot.” The waters which thou sawest (at R. xvii. 1) 
“are peoples and nations and tongues.” After the ten persecu- 
tions, the Seer saw a great multitude of all nations and tribes 
and peoples and tongues standing before the throne in the sight 
of the Lamb, clothed with white robes (R. vii. 9). Rome 
oppressed or “ sat upon” the waters, 1.6., the Christians of her 
subject nations. 

““Ὄχλοι ᾽᾿--“ multitudes ”’—is not in the Vulgate, and is 
consequently left out of the Douay Version. It emphasises 
the connection with R. vii. g. 


16. Kat τὰ δέκα κέρατα ἃ εἶδες καὶ τὸ θηρίον, οὗτοι 
μισήσουσιν τὴν πόρνην, καὶ ἠρημωμένην ποιήσουσιν, 
αὐτὴν καὶ γυμνήν, καὶ τὰς σάρκας αὐτῆς φάγονται. καὶ 
2 7 > / 
αὐτὴν κατακαύσουσιν ἐν πυρί. 


16. And the ten horns which thou sawest on the beast, these shall hate 
the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, 
and shall burn her with fire. 


This is a prediction concerning the fate of Rome, which has 
come into ‘‘remembrance.”’ ‘“ The ten horns,” ‘‘ which are ten 
kings ᾿᾿ (verse 2) shall desolate her, and strip her of her belong- 
ings, and eat her up, and set fire to her. Asa matter of history 
we know that all this happened. Many “barbarian’’ kings 
helped Rome at first, but when they grew strong they partitioned 
her. Alaric, King of the Visigoths, besieged Rome in 409, and 
plundered it A.D. 410. Attila, King of the Huns, wasted 
northern Italy up to the walls of Rome in A.D. 452. Genseric, 
King of the Vandals, stormed and captured Rome in 455, and 
allowed his soldiers to pillage the city for fourteen days. 
Gibbon gives a long account of this incident: 


“ The pillage lasted fourteen days and nights, and all that yet 
remained of public or private wealth, of sacred or profane treasure, was 


THE ROMAN THEME 333 


diligently transported to the vessels of Genseric. . . . It was difficult 
either to escape or to satisfy the avarice of a conqueror who possessed 
leisure to collect and ships to transport the wealth of the capital. The 
imperial ornaments of the palace, the magnificent furniture and ward- 
robes, the sideboards of massive plate were accumulated with dis- . 
orderly rapine; the gold and silver amounted to several thousand 
talents ; yet even the brass and copper were laboriously removed ” 
(“ D. and F.,” xxxi.). 


In this manner was Rome stripped naked by Genseric. The 
sacred furniture of the Temple of Jerusalem, brought to Rome 
by Titus with the golden seven-branched candlestick, were 
removed to Carthage. Ricimer, a Suevian, besieged and sacked 
Rome in 472. ‘Totila, King of the Ostrogoths, besieged Rome 
for several months in the year 546, and gave it up to fire and 
slaughter. It is said that it remained an uninhabited waste for 
forty days (Marcellin, in Chron., p. 54). 


17. Ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς ἔδωκεν cis Tas καρδίας αὐτῶν ποιῆσαι 
τὴν γνώμην αὐτοῦ, καὶ ποιῆσαι μίαν γνώμην καὶ δοῦναι 
τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτῶν τῷ θηρίω, ἄχρι τελεσθήσονται οἱ 
λόγοι τοῦ Θεοῦ. 


17. For God hath given into their hearts to do that which pleaseth 
ΠΝ that they give their kingdom to the beast until the words of God be 
fulfilled. 


We have explained this verse by anticipation at R. xvii. 13. 
Μίαν γνώμην, “one design,” is here repeated and defined as 
“that which pleaseth him ’’ (God), viz., “that they give their 
kingdom to the Beast until the words of God be fulfilled.” 
The “‘ design ” of the ten kings was to do the will of God, pre- 
ordained, viz., to help the Roman Empire at first, and gain 
admission to it as allies, then to form independent kingdoms 
with this alliance, and, finally, when strong enough, to rend 
the Empire in pieces. The words of God that were thus 
*‘ fulfilled” are contained in the last verse. 

We know from history that the “ἴδῃ kings”’ overthrew the 
Roman Empire and destroyed the capital city, Rome. It is 
very remarkable that the most important of these kings were 
conscious of their divine mission. Alaric told his people that a 
voice ever cried to him on the Danube, ‘Go and destroy 
Rome.” Attila claimed as his official title ‘‘ The Scourge of 
God.” Genseric, when asked by his pilot where he should 
steer, said, “‘Go to that land on which God’s anger rests.” 
Odoacer, King of the Heruli, was encouraged to invade Italy 
by Severinus, a holy hermit of Noricum. 


334 THE REVELATION 


The battle of Armagedon in which the ten kings assist the 
Beast with “their strength and power” is described in 
Chapter XIX. It was fought by Rome and her allies against 
Attila, King of the Huns. It seems to have been a turning- 
point in the history of Rome and her dependent kings, who 
learnt then the weakness of Rome and that “the hour” had 
come to destroy her. In the next hundred years, from A.D. 452 
to 552, they ‘‘make” Rome “desolate and naked,” and “eat her 
flesh,” and ‘‘ burn her with fire.” 

“Καὶ ποιῆσαι μίαν γνώμην ᾽ is not translated in the Vulgate. 


18. Καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἣν εἰδες ἔστιν ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη ἡ ἔχουσα 
βασιλείαν ἐπὶ τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς. 


18. And the woman which thou sawest is the great city, a kingdom 
which hath dominion over the kings of the earth. 


Continuing his explanation of the harlot woman, the angel 
says that ‘“‘ the woman is the great city,” which great city “hath 
dominion over the kings of the earth.” Rome was the great 
city of the first century, and Rome alone had dominion over 
the kings of the earth. She sat upon and oppressed all nations. 
Nothing could be clearer or more convincing. The woman is 
pagan Rome, consequently the Beast is the line of Imperial 
demi-gods, who upheld her idolatrous practices. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


.I Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα εἶδον ἄλλον ἄγγελον καταβαίνοντα ἐκ 
τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἔχοντα ἐξουσίαν μεγάλην, καὶ ἡ γῆ ἐφωτίσθη 
ἐκ τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ. 

1. And after these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, 
having great power ; and the earth was enlightened with his glory. 


(3. omits the first Kai. Bd. follows the Vulgate.) 

Towards the close of Chapter XVI. we were told “ and great 
Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give her the cup 
of the wine of the indignation of his wrath " (R. xvi.19). Then 
an angel explains in Chapter XVII. the mystery of Babylon 
(R. xvii. 1-7, 18). Now Babylon comes into ‘‘ remembrance” ~ 
and is made to drink the cup. 

“After these things,” that is after the explanations given 
by the angel in Chapter XVII., another angel, having great 
power, and a glory which illuminated the earth, came down from 


THE ROMAN THEME 335 


heaven. “Glory” is a secondary sense of d0€ (Luke ii. 9). A 
great and glorious angel is needed here to symbolise a power 
mighty enough to overthrow great Babylon. Our Lord ap- 
peared in person when it was a question of reaping the Roman 
Empire at Κα. xiv. 14. This angel came down to earth, ἡ γῆ, 
the Roman earth. He is like the angel who appeared before 
with the little open book at R. x. 1., where see notes. 


2. Kal ἔκραξεν ἐν ἰσχυρᾷ φωνῇ λέγων, Ἔπεσεν ἔπεσεν 
Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη, καὶ ἐγένετο κατοικητήριον δαιμονίων 
καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς πνεύματος ἀκαθάρτου καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς 
ὀρνέου ἀκαθάρτου καὶ μεμισημένου. 


2. And he cried out with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is 
fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of 
every unclean spirit, and the hold of every unclean and hateful bird. 


Hitherto the Seer has invariably used the expression φωνῆ 
μηγαλῆ, “ loud voice.” This dazzling angel is endowed with 
ἰσχυρᾷ φωνῇ, “ἃ strong voice,” symbolic of his strength. He 
repeats the prediction of the angel of R. xiv. 8, viz. ‘‘ She is 
fallen, she is fallen, that great Babylon”; for now is come the 
time of her fall. “The prediction is couched in the present tense, ᾿ 
asa thing seen bythe Seer. She is fallenintoruin. The picture 
is drawn on the lines of fallen Babylon in Isaias, “ But wild 
beasts shall rest there, and their houses shall be filled with 
serpents, and ostriches shall dwell there, and the hairy ones 
shall dance there” (xiii. 21). In like manner Isaias prophecies 
of Edom (xxxiv.14). The prophet Jeremias predicted similarly 
of the ruins of Babylon, ‘‘ Therefore shall dragons dwell there 
with the fig-fauns and ostriches shall dwell therein ”’ (1. 39) 

The reader will notice a certain amount of repetition in this 
part of the Book, as commonly in the Hebrew Prophets. 


3. Ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ THs πορνείας αὐτῆς πέπω- 
καν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς μετ᾽ αὐτῆς 
ἐπόρνευσαν, καὶ οἱ ἔμποροι τῆς γῆς ἐκ τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ 
στρήνους αὐτῆς ἐπλούτησαν. 

3. Because all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her 
fornication ; and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with 


her, and the merchants of the earth have been made rich by the abundance 
of her delicacies. 


Before the picture of Rome’s desolation is drawn, her crime 
of idolatry, especially of Czsar worship, is once again charged 
against her (see R. xvii. 2, notes). A kind of judicial trial of 


336 THE REVELATION 


Rome takes place ; first the crime in this verse; then the judicial 
sentence; lastly, the picture of its execution. 

The merchants of the earth are brought in here, because they 
have pandered to the luxury and vice of Rome, and they will 
be involved in her ruin, and will witness it (R. xviii. 11). 


. » ¥ \ > an 3 - , 
4. Kat ἤκουσα ἄλλην φωνὴν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ λέγουσαν. 
lal ν 4 
᾿Ἐξέλθατε, ἐξ αὐτῆς, ὃ λαός μου, ἵνα μὴ συγκοινωνήσητε 
ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐκ τῶν πληγῶν αὐτῆς ἵνα μὴ 


λάβητε. 


4. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Go out from her, 
my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not 
of her plagues. 


As the Nazarene Church was warned to leave Jerusalem at 
the time of its destruction, so now the Church at Rome is 
warned. ‘‘ Another voice from heaven” is apparently that of 
our Saviour, for it says, “my people ""-- ὁ λαός pou.” We are 
reminded of the warnings of the O.T. regarding the destruction 
of Babylon. 

Compare Isaias xlvili. 20: “Come forth out of Babylon.” 
Jer. 1. 8: ‘‘ Remove out of the midst of Babylon.” See also 
Jer. li. 45: ‘‘ Go out of the midst of her, my people; that every 
man may save his life from the fierce wrath of the Lord.” 

There are some indications that the warning was heeded at 
Rome. At the time of Alaric’s sacking of Rome in 414, many 
Christians fled away to S. Jerome, who was then at Bethlehem, 
in Judea; others took refuge in other parts. S. Jerome says 
(Ep. vi.) that S. Paula, and several illustrious Christian families, 
had left Rome, as if by particular inspiration, and retired into 
Judea. ‘The holy Pope Innocent was drawn by a particular 
providence out of the city, as Lot out of Sodom, that he might 
not see the ruin of a guilty people ” (Orosius, Lib. vii. c. xxxix.). 
We read likewise that Melania, a friend of S. Jerome, as if she 
foresaw the approaching catastrophe, prevailed upon many 
Christians to retire with her from a city doomed to destruction 
(Histor. Laus. c. cxviili.). 

Melania left Rome in the year 408, with Rufinus. For the 
sacking of Rome by Alaric, see Gibbon (“ Ὁ. and F.,” c. xxxi.). 


THE ROMAN THEME 337 


5. Ὅτι ἐκολλήθησαν αὐτῆς ai ἁμαρτίαι ἄχρι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, 
καὶ ἐμνημόνευσεν ὁ Θεὸς τὰ ἀδικήματα αὐτῆς. 

5. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and the Lord hath remembered 
her iniquities. 

The accusation is resumed. Her sins have reached to 
heaven. This refers to R. xvii. 6, “1 saw the woman drunk 
with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs 
of Jesus.” Which again refers to R. vi. 10, “ How long, O 
Lord, dost thou not judge and revenge our blood.” Their 
blood has reached heaven, like the cry of Abel’s blood 
(Gen. iv. 10), and the Lord “‘ remembered” the iniquities of 
Rome. So the judgment of Babylon “ reached even to the 
heavens ”’ (Jer. li. 9). 


> lol 
6. ᾿Απόδοτε αὐτῇ ὡς καὶ αὐτὴ ἀπέδωκεν, καὶ διπλώσατε 
a \ , ὧν 9 A > a , Φ'. ee 2 
διπλᾶ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῆς, ἐν τῷ ποτηρίῳ ᾧ ἐκέρασεν 
κεράσατε αὐτῇ διπλοῦν. 


6. Render to her as she also hath rendered to you, and double unto her 
double, according to her works; in the cup wherein she hath mingled, 
mingle unto her, double. 


(S. = (τὰ)διπλᾶ.) 

This is the judicial sentence, pronounced by the last voice 
heard at R. xviii. 4, addressed to “ὁ λαός pov.” It is a com- 
mand to the angels of vengeance, “ Double unto her double, 
according to her works.” See R. xvi. 6, and xvii. 6, for “ her 
works.” The cup in her hand is seen at R. xvii. 4. The 
punishment of the cup is symbolised at R. xiv. 20. And at 
R. xvi. 19, “ Great Babylon came in remembrance before God 
to give her the cup of the wine of the indignation of his wrath.” 
Of Babylon of old the sentence ran, ‘‘ Pay her according to her 
work; according to all that she hath done, do ye to her” 
(Jer. 1. 29). But to Rome the Jewish law of restitution is 
applied, as laid down in Exodus xxii. 4 and 7. We may recall 
the tableau of vengeance on the Empire at R. xiv. 20, where 
blood filled 1,600 stadia, up to the level of horses’ bridles. 
The meaning of mingling unto her double, in the cup, is 
developed as we go on. 


22 


338 THE REVELATION 


7. Ὅσα ἐδόξασεν αὐτὴν καὶ ἐστρηνίασεν, τοσοῦτον δότε 
αὐτῇ βασανισμὸν καὶ πένθος. ὅτι ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῆς λέγει 
ὅτι Κάθημαι βασίλισσα, καὶ χήρα οὐκ εἰμὶ καὶ πένθος οὐ 
μὴ ἴδω. 


7. As much as she hath glorified herself and lived in delicacies, so much 
torment and sorrow give unto her; because slre saith in her heart, I sit a 
queen and am no widow, and sorrow I shall not see. 


The general principle is laid down in Luke xiv. 11, “ Because 
everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled.” It is found 
in the O.T. (Isa. iii. 16). The prophet Isaias warns Babylon 
of her punishment, “Thou hast said I shall be a lady for 
ever,...I shall not sit as a widow” (xlvii. 7, 8). This is a 
continuation of the judgment, still on the lines of the Jewish 
laws in Exodus. 


8. Ava τοῦτο ἐν μιᾷ ἡμέρᾳ ἥξουσιν αἱ πληγαὶ αὐτῆς. 
θάνατος καὶ πένθος καὶ λιμός, καὶ ἐν πυρὶ κατακαυθήσεται" 
ὅτι ἰσχυρὸς ὁ Θεὸς ὁ κρίνας αὐτήν. 


8. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning and 
famine, and she shall be burnt with fire, because God is strong, who shall 
judge her. 


Because of these things, enumerated at verses 3, 5, and 7 
above, her plagues shall come in one day. The afflictions of 
Babylon are called “ plagues” to preserve the symbolism con- 
necting her with the Empire. ‘One day” does not mean a 
day of twenty-four hours. It means, as in Genesis, an in- 
definite period. 

Rome is delivered up to the white horse, death; and the 
black horse, famine ; and the red horse of war and conflagration. 
Ὁ Θεὸς ὁ κρίνας αὐτήν connects with κρίνεις at R. vi. 10. The 
martyrs’ cry is heard. Judgment is pronounced. 


9. Kat κλαύσουσιν καὶ κόψονται ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν οἱ βασιλεῖς 
~ lal 5 lal 
τῆς γῆς Ol μετ᾽ αὐτῆς πορνεύσαντες Kal στρηνιάσαντες, ὅταν 
βλέπωσιν τὸν καπνὸν τῆς πυρώσεως αὐτῆς. 
9. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication, and 


lived in delicacies with her, shall weep and bewail themselves over her, 
when they shall see the smoke of her burning. 


The result of the judgment is seen in the widespread lamen- 
tations of all those who are dependent on Rome. First the 
kings of the earth, τῆς γῆς, who have worshipped her Cesars, 


THE ROMAN THEME | 339 


and lived dissolute lives. They are not the barbarian kings— 
τοὺς βασιλεῖς τῆς οἰκουμένης ὅλης---οὐ R. xvi. 14, who are allied 
to the Beast for a time, and then turn and rend her—Alaric, 
and the rest—Arian kings who were the instruments of God in- 
desolating Rome, and strippi ng her naked, and burning her with 
fire (R. xvii. 16). These are friendly kings who have joined in 
Cesar worship, and who have much to lose by the ruin of the 
city. They bewail themselves when they see the smoke of her 
burning. Their lament is very similar to that of the son of man 
over the fall of Tyre, in Ezechiel, chapter xxvii. 


IO. ᾿Απὸ μακρόθεν ἑστηκότες διὰ τὸν φόβον τοῦ βασα- 
νισμοῦ αὐτῆς, λέγοντες, Οὐαὶ οὐαὶ, ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη 
Βαβυλών, ἡ πόλις ἡ ἰσχυρά, ὅτι μιᾷ ὥρᾳ ἦλθεν ἡ κρίσις σου. 


το. Standing afar off for fear of her torments, saying, Woe, woe, that 
great city Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judgment come. 


When the kings of the earth lament over the fate of ‘‘ that 
great city Babylon, that mighty city,” any lingering doubt there 
may be in the mind of the reader that Babylon means Rome is 
dispelled. The lament is repeated at R. xviii. 16 and το. Prof. 
Stuart holds that Οὐαὶ οὐαὶ should be translated Alas, alas! 
since the kings are sorrowfully witnessing, not predicting, or 
imprecating woe (op. cit. II., p. 333). 

** One hour,” “μιᾷ ὥρᾳ," means the hour of judgment. 


II. Kat οἱ ἔμποροι τῆς γῆς κλαίουσιν καὶ πενθοῦσιν ἐπ᾽ 
αὐτήν, ὅτι τὸν γόμον αὐτῶν οὐδεὶς ἀγοράζει οὐκέτι. 


11. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, for 
no man shall buy their merchandise any more. 


The merchants’ lament carries still further the idea of the 
desolation of Rome. No one is left to buy their merchandise. 
This picture also is like that of the fall of Tyre in Ezechiel, 
chapters xxvii. and xxviii. The merchants lament the downfall 
of Rome, only in so far as it affects themselves. For this cause 
they weep and mourn. 

Tov γόμον is put for a ship’s cargo in the Acts (xxi. 3). Rome 
had oversea commerce with the West, as well as with Africa 
and the East. 


340 THE REVELATION 


12. Γόμον χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου καὶ λίθου τιμίου καὶ 
μαργαρίτου καί βυσσίνου καὶ πορφύρας καὶ σιρικοῦ καὶ 
κοκκίνου, καὶ πᾶν ξύλον θύϊνον καὶ πᾶν σκεῦος ἐλεφαντινον 
καὶ πᾶν σκεῦος ἐκ ξύλου τιμιωτάτου καὶ χαλκοῦ καὶ σιδήρου 
καὶ μαρμάρου. 

12. Merchandise of gold.and silver and precious stones and pearls, and 
of fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and all thyine-wood, and all 


manner of vessels of ivory, and all manner of vessels of precious stone, and 
of brass, and of iron and of marble. 


(S.=papyapitov.) 

When this enumeration of articles of luxury was made the 
teaching of Christ regarding poverty was still observed. 
Ephesus, the first age of the Church, was warned. ‘“ But this I 
have against thee that thou hast left thy first charity ” (R. ii. 4). 
Hence the scandal of this luxury was great at that time. 
S. John’s followers at Ephesus were well acquainted with the 
traffic of the East with Rome, including slaves and the “souls 
of men.” Much of it was shipped from the port of Ephesus. 
Thyine-wood, probably the Thuia Articulata of botany, was 
used for making polished inlaid tables, according to Dr. Swete 
(op. ctt., p. 233). 

κεὐῦς, translated ‘vessels,’ means also an implement of any 
kind. 


13. Καὶ κιννάμωμον καὶ θυμιάματα καὶ μύρον καὶ 
λίβανον καὶ οἶνον καὶ ἔλαιον καὶ σεμίδαλιν καὶ σῖτον καὶ 
κτήνη καὶ πρόβατα, καὶ ἵππων καὶ ῥεδῶν καὶ σωμάτων, καὶ 
ψυχὰς ἀνθρώπων. 

13. And cinnamon and odours and ointment and frankincense, and wine 


and oil and fine flour and wheat, and beasts and sheep and horses and 
chariots, and slaves and souls of men. 


(S. has καὶ ἄμωμον after κιννάμωμου, ‘a perfume familiar to 
Roman writers.” Bd. omits it. It is not in the Vulgate.) 

Cinnamon oil was used in the perfumed unction with which 
the tabernacle and the ark and the candlesticks and the priests 
of the Temple were anointed (Exod. xxx. 23-30). The Romans 
anointed their persons with it, when preparing for banquets. 
Θυμίαμα is the word used to express incense at R. v. 8 and 
R. vill. 3, though translated “‘odours”’ at R. v. 8. It was used 
in Cesar worship. “Σωμάτων,᾽ “slaves,” were bought and sold 
‘in the slave market of Rome—the emporium of immorality. 

Gibbon refers to a special class of slave merchandise very 
common in the markets of decadent Rome. He says: ‘The 
eastern imports of the Empire included eunuchs, whose value 


THE ROMAN THEME 341 


was increased as the Empire declined” (op. cit., chap. vi.). 
They had lost their manhood, but had still the souls of men— 
ψυχὰς ἀνθρώπων. 


14. Καὶ ἡ ὀπώρα τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ψυχῆς σου απῆλθεν 
ἀπὸ σοῦ, καὶ πάντα τὰ λιπαρὰ καὶ τὰ λαμπρὰ ἀπώλετο ἀπὸ 
σοῦ, καὶ οὐκέτι οὐ μὴ αὐτὰ εὑρήσουσιν. 

14. And the fruits of the desire of thy soul are departed from thee, and 


all fat and goodly things are perished from thee, and they shall no more 
find them. 


(S. puts cov after ὀπώρα, and omits it after ψυχῆς.) 

Having enumerated the articles of merchandise which 
gratified the desires of Rome, the city is apostrophised. All 
these things—the ripe fruits of her civilisation, the desire of her 
soul—shall depart from her. Prof. Stuart says, “λιπαρὰ " and 
“λαμπρὰ characterise all kinds of furniture and clothing, which 
were gilt or plated or embroidered, and therefore were bright 
and splendid (op. cit., ii. 335). They shall perish from her, 
“‘ And they shall no more find them”; or “‘ they shall no more 
be found,” which is in better keeping with the Greek text. 


ε »» ’ ε , > > > ~ > Ν 
15. Οἱ ἔμποροι τούτων, οἱ πλουτήσαντες GT αὐτῆς, ἀπὸ 
ἴω ἴω ~ 
μακρόθεν στήσονται διὰ τὸν φόβον τοῦ βασανισμοῦ αὐτῆς, 
κλαίοντες καὶ πενθοῦντες. 


15. The merchants of these things, who were made rich, shall stand afar 
off from her, for fear of her torments, weeping and mourning. 


Τούτων, ‘these things,” that is the merchandise mentioned 
at verses 12 and 13. The merchants of R. xviii, 11, who were 
made rich by this merchandise of gold and silver, etc., “ shall 
stand afar off from her, for fear of her torments,” as the kings 
did at R. xviii. το. But their grief is greater, for their loss is 
greater. Commerce is at a standstill. Hence they weep and 
mourn, “ bewail themselves over her” (R. xviii. 9). 


16. Aéyovres, Oval oval, ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη, ἡ περι- 
βεβλημένη βύσσινον καὶ πορφυροῦν καὶ κόκκινον, καὶ 
κεχρυσωμένη ἐν χρυσίῳ καὶ λίθῳ τιμίῷ καὶ μαργαρίταις. 

τό. Saying, Woe, woe, that great city which was clothed with fine linen 


and purple and scarlet, and was gilt with gold and precious stones and 
pearls. 


(3. = μαργαριτή.) : ee 
The merchants, crying out Alas, alas! “that great city,” 
mention some of the principal articles of their merchandise, 


242 THE REVELATION 


and conclude, like the kings at verse 10, by saying, “ For in one 
hour are so great riches come to nought.”’ That is the cause of 
their crying out, Alas, alas! Dr. Swete prints this verse with 
the ending ὅτε μιᾷ ὥρα «.T.X as at verse 10. But Brandscheid, 
as usual, follows the Vulgate, and makes the merchants lament 
the beginning of the shipmasters’ testimony (verse 17). The 
shipmasters’ lament concludes with ὅτε μιᾷ ὥρα, and therefore 
should not begin with it. All three laments are planned alike. 

The scarlet woman at R. xvii. 4 is identified as “that great 
city,” Rome, by being clothed in purple and scarlet and “gilt 
with gold and precious stones and pearls,” as above. 


17. Ὅτι μιᾷ ὥρᾳ ἠρημώθη ὃ τοσοῦτος πλοῦτος, καὶ πᾶς 
NS μ τ Re ven Kt Ἢ ΄, \ A ee Y 
κυβερνήτης καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἐπὶ τόπον πλέων καὶ ναῦται Kal ὅσοι 
τὴν θάλασσαν ἐργάζονται, ἀπὸ μακρόθεν ἔστησαν. 


17. For in one hour are so great riches come to nought, and every ship- 
master, and all that sail into the lake, and mariners, and they that work at 
sea stood afar off. 


Kai, and, really begins this sentence, as often elsewhere. 
Here we have a new set of witnesses. Another class of 
persons deeply interested in the prosperity of Rome testify to 
her greatness, td her ruin, and to their great loss. Thus the 
picture of Rome’s magnificence and fall is filled up. Every 
“shipmaster ”’—“ κυβερνήτης ᾽᾿---ἰθ literally the helmsman who 
pilots the ship. Ὁ ἐπὶ τόπον πλεών, means, “ He who sails to 
a place,” 2.6., from one place to another along the coast, the 
captain of a coasting ship, for example. And “ vadrau,”’ sailors, 
and all who work at sea, oarsmen, carpenters, sail-makers, 
cooks, and the like, ‘‘stood afar off,” like the kings and 
merchants, because they saw the smoke of her burning. The 
word ‘‘ lake” is not in the Greek above. It is the Vulgate 
rendering of “ ἐπὶ τόπον mwdéwv,” and suggests that the Latin 
redactor of the eighth century had the Mediterranean Sea in 
view, and knew that Babylon stood for Rome. Vg.squi in 
lacum navigat. 

The harbour of Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber, reconstructed 
by the Emperor Claudius in the first century, was crowded 
with shipping engaged in the commerce of Rome, when the 
Apocalypse of St. John was written. 


THE ROMAN THEME 343 


18. Kai ἔκραξαν βλέποντες τὸν καπνὸν τῆς πυρώσεως 
αὐτῆς λέγοντες Τίς ὁμοία τῇ πόλει τῇ μεγάλῃ. 

18. And cried out, seeing the place of her burning, saying, What city is 
like to this great city ? 

They cried out seeing “ τὸν καπνὸν, 1.6., “ the smoke ” of her 
burning. Standing afar off, they could see the smoke, for it 
was the smoke of a great city. The conflagration of Rome 
would be visible from the sea. The dome of S. Peter’s is visible 
from the sea. The walls of Rome were thrown down, the public 
monuments demolished, and the city destroyed by fire by Totila 
(Procop. L. iii.12). Evidence of the fire still remains. Recent 
excavations in the Forum show the coins of the money changers 
melted and burnt into the solid rock. 

“ The place of her burning” in the English version above is 
taken from the Vulgate, locum incendi ejus, which follows 
“ romrov, ’—*‘ place”’ in the Codex Alexandrinus. In this Greek 
text we have ‘‘ the smoke” of her burning. 


19. Kat ἔβαλον χοῦν ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν καὶ ἔκραξαν 
κλαίοντες καὶ πενθοῦντες, λέγοντες Οὐαὶ, οὐαὶ, ἡ πόλις ἡ 
μεγάλη. ἐν ἣ ἐπλούτησαν πάντες οἱ ἔχοντες τὰ πλοῖα ἐν τῇ 
θαλάσσῃ ἐκ τῆς τιμιότητος αὐτῆς, ὅτι μιᾷ ὥρᾳ ἠρημώθη. 

1g. And they cast dust upon their heads and cried out, weeping and 
mourning, Woe! woe! that great city wherein all were made rich who 


had ships at sea, by reason of her prices, for in one hour she is made 
desolate. 


“They cast dust upon their heads,” an ancient Jewish way 
of demonstrating grief (Jos. vii. 6; Job ii. 12; Josephus, 
Ants. xx. 6, I). 

This picture of the downfall of Rome is very similar to 
that of the fall of Tyre in Ezechiel, as will be seen from the 
following: ‘* The mariners and all the pilots of the sea, shall 
stand upon the land. And they shall mourn over thee with a 
loud voice, and shall cry bitterly: and they shall cast up dust 
upon their heads, and shall be sprinkled with ashes. And they 
shall take up a mournful song for thee, and shall lament thee. 
What city is like Tyre, which is become silent in the midst of 
the sea, which by thy merchandise, that went from thee by sea, 
didst fill many people; which by the multitude of thy riches, 
and of thy people, didst enrich the kings of the earth?” (Ezech. 
XXV1l. 29, 30, 32, 33). 

‘By reason of her prices” sounds peculiar. Ἔκ τῆς 
τιμιότητος αὐτῆς, could be rendered “ by reason of her wealth,” 
where τὴμιότης is ‘‘ worth,” “value,” ‘‘ preciousness.” The 


344 THE REVELATION 


shipmasters conclude, “ for in one hour she is made desolate”’ 
—67t μιᾷ ὥρᾳ ἠρημώθη, that is the conclusion, not the begin- 
ning, of a lament. 


20. Εὐφραίνου ἐπ᾽ αὐτῇ, οὐρανέ, καὶ ob ἅγιοι καὶ οἱ 
ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ προφῆται, ὅτι ἔκρινεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ κρίμα 
ὑμῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς. 


20. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for 
God hath judged your judgment on her. 


A new chord is struck and a command given. Enough, for 
the present, of weeping and mourning over the downfall of 
wicked Babylon. Her victims, the souls of the martyrs, who 
cried to heaven for vengeance against her, at R. vi. 10, have a 
right to rejoice now their prayer, “ judge and revenge our 
blood,” is heard. The countless multitude of martyrs who 
stood before the throne at R. vii. 9, amongst them the Holy 
Apostles SS. Peter and Paul, and the prophets, or Bishops of 
the Church, slain for their faith by Rome, are told to rejoice, 
“for God hath judged your judgment on her.” This again 
looks back to R. xvii. 1, I will show you the condemnation— 
τὸ Kpipa—ot the great harlot. Κρίμα is translated ‘‘ condemna- 
tion” at R. xvii. 1, and “‘ judgment ” here. 

In the Greek, above, ἅγιοι, ‘‘ saints,” are commanded to rejoice, 
as well as ‘‘apostles and prophets,” accordingly the response 
comes from “ many multitudes in heaven” at R. xix. 1, followed 
by ‘‘the four-and-twenty ancients” at R. xix. 4. 


51: Καὶ ἦρεν εἷς ἄγγελος ἰσχυρὸς λίθον ὡς μύλινον 
μέγαν, καὶ ἔβαλεν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν λέγων, Οὕτως ὁρμή- 
ματι βληθήσεται Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη πόλις, καὶ οὐ μὴ 
εὑρεθῇ ἔτι. 


21. And a mighty angel took up a stone, as it were a great millstone, 
and cast it into the sea, saying, With this violence shall Babylon, that 
great city, be thrown down, and shall now be found no more. 


We have seen this “ ἄγγελος ἰσχυρὸς ᾿᾿ before at R. v. 2 and 
x. I., and perhaps at xviii. 1. He cast a stone, as heavy as a 
millstone, into the sea, saying, With this ὁρμήματε, ‘ impetus,” 
will great Babylon “be thrown down,” and “be found no 
more.” Millstones were round flat stones weighing about 
25 lbs. or more, superimposed, one upon the other, for grinding 
corn. It is a striking prediction of the complete disappearance 
of the city of pagan Rome. The prophet Jeremias predicted 


THE ROMAN THEME 345 


the fall of Babylon in like manner, “ And when thou shalt have 
made an end of reading this book, thou shalt tie a stone to it, 
and shall throw it into the midst of the Euphrates. And thou 
shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink ” (li. 63, 64) 

It is predicted here that the fall of pagan Rome should be 
accomplished with great violence—as, in fact, happened—and 
that it should disappear as completely as a stone thrown into the 
sea. Within the last few years excavations in the ruins of the 
Forum have brought to light some of the temples of ancient 
Rome. Ruins within ruins, witness to the downfall of the 
pagan city, the Babylon of the Apocalypse. Even asa stone 
buried in the sea, has the life of that city gone. It lies dead 
and buried in the midst of the living city of Christian Rome. 

Finally, as the natural consequence of the ruin of her temples, 
basilicas, baths, forums, amphitheatres, palaces and work-shops, 
no sound of life is left in her. 


22. Καὶ φωνὴ κιθαρῳδῶν καὶ μουσικῶν καὶ αὐλητῶν καὶ 
σαλπιστῶν οὐ μή ἀκουσθῇ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι, καὶ πᾶς τεχνίτης, 
πάσης τέχνης, οὐ μὴ εὑρεθῃ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι, καὶ φωνὴ μύλου οὐ 
μὴ ἀκουσθῇ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι. 

22. And the voice of harpers and of musicians and of them that play on 
the pipe and on the trumpet, shall no more be heard in thee, and no crafts- 


man of any art whatsoever shall be found any more in thee, and the sound 
of a mill shall no more be heard in thee. 


The routine of daily life is summed up in music of all kinds, 
which stand for revelry, in craftsmen, who stand for the arts 
and manufactures, and in the sound of the millstone, which 
stands for domestic life (see Matt. xxiv. 41). All are gone. 
The round of daily life exists no more. 


23. Καὶ φῶς λύχνου οὐ μὴ φάνῃ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι, καὶ φωνὴ 
νυμφίου καὶ νύμφης οὐ μὴ ἀκουσθῇ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι, ὅτι οἱ 
ἔμποροι σου ἦσαν οἱ μεγιστᾶνες τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἐν τῇ 
φαρμακίᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. 

23. And the light of the lamp shall shine no more in thee, and the voice 
of the bridegroom and bride shall be heard no more in thee; for thy 


merchants were the great men of the earth; for all nations have been 
deceived by thy sorceries. 


Lamp-light and ‘the bridegroom and bride” stand for 
nocturnal life. Day and night, Rome is silenced for ever. 
These pathetic touches complete the picture of Rome’s utter 


eo” THE REVELATION 


desolation. There is something of the same kind in oo 
with regard to the fall of Babylon: “And I will take away 
from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the 
voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound 
of the mill and the light of the lamp” (Jer. xxv. 10; see also 
Jer. vil. 34, Xvi. 9). 

“‘ Sorceries”” connects with R. ix. 21, ‘‘ Neither have they 
done penance for their murders, nor for their sorceries,” 
showing that the Roman Empire is in view. Babylon is 
reprobated “ for the multitude of her sorceries”’ (Isa. xlvii. 12). 


(24. Kai ἐν αὐτῇ αἵμα προφητῶν καὶ ἁγίων εὑρέθη καὶ 
πάντων τῶν ἐσφαγμένων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. 


24. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all 
who were slain upon the earth. 


In the first century the complete annihilation of Rome may 
have needed a final word of justification. All men were dazzled 
by her magnificence, even Christians shared in her glory. So 
the reader is reminded of her merchandise, her sorceries, and 
the blood of prophets and of saints, shed not only in her 
amphitheatres, but throughout the Empire. All this blood is 
laid at her door before final judgment is executed upon her in 
the next chapter. “Προφητῶν καὶ ayiwv” stands for “ clergy 
and laity.” 

᾿Εσφαγμένων means “ sacrificially slain,” and is so used for 
the Lamb slain, at R. v. 6, and for the martyrs slain, at 
R. vi. 9, where see notes. Dr. Swete says that this word is 
used in no other book to describe the death of Christ. It is 
an example of the Seer’s choice of words having a special 
significance. 

The reader is now in a position to appreciate the political 
character of this revelation, and the necessity of hiding it from 
Rome. The outspoken condemnation of Cesar worship, the 
plagues predicted for the Empire, the political action of the 
ten kings, the destruction of the capital, thinly veiled under 
the name of “that great city Babylon, that mighty city” 
(R. xviii. 10), form a picture which would astound and enrage 
the Roman world in the days of the Augusti. The battle of 
Armagedon, the downfall of the Cesars, and their consignment 
to hell, further treasonable matters, come in the next chapter. 


THE ROMAN THEME 347 


CHAPTER XIX 


- Mera ταῦτα ἤκουσα ὡς φωνὴν μεγάλην ὄχλου πολλοῦ 
ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ λεγόντων, ᾿Αλληλουϊά ἡ σωτηρία καὶ ἡ δόξα 
καὶ ἡ δύναμις τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν. 


‘1, After these things I heard the voice of many multitudes in heaven 
saying, Alleluia. Salvation and glory and power is to our God. 


“After these things” =Mera tatra—indicates a new de- 
parture. The Seer heard the voice of many multitudes, 
ὄχλου πολλοῦ, in heaven. After the ten persecutions he saw 
ὄχλος πολύς, translated ‘‘a great multitude,” standing before 
the throne, saying, “ Salvation to our God who sitteth upon the 
throne and to the Lamb.” The martyrs of Rome found salva- 
tion in martyrdom and rejoiced. They rejoice now at the 
salvation of the Church, brought about by the fall of Rome. 
They rejoice in obedience to the command at R. xviii. 20, 
““ Rejoice over her thou heaven.” 


Ὅτι ἀληθιναὶ καὶ δίκαιαι αἱ κρίσεις αὐτοῦ: ὅτι ἔκρινεν 
Ἂ» πόρνην τὴν μεγάλην 7 τις ἔφθειρεν τὴν γῆν. ἐν τῇ πορνείᾳ. 
αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐξεδίκησεν τὸ αἷμα τῶν δούλων αὐτοῦ ἐκ χειρὸς 
αὐτῆς. 


2. For true and just are his judgments, who hath judged the great 
harlot, which corrupteth the earth with her fornication, and hath revenged 
the blood of his servants at her hands. 


The countless multitude of martyrs continue, “true and 
just are his judgments.” So they cried out when the seven 
last plagues appeared, δίκαιαι καὶ ἀληθιναὶ, “ just and true” are 
thy ways (R. xv. 3. See also R. xvi. 7). Ὅτι, ‘‘ because,” He 
hath judged the great harlot. “ Because God is strong who 
shall judge her” (R. xvii. 8). “ The great harlot which 
corrupteth the earth with her fornication” is an indication 
of Rome taken from R. xvii. 2, 5, and xviii. 3. ‘‘And hath 
revenged the blood of his servants,” takes us back to the 
martyr’s prayer, “ Judge and revenge our blood” (R. vi. 10). 
The same words, “true,” ‘‘ judge,” ‘‘ revenge,” and “ blood,” 
are found in both places. The verbal connection is very strong. 
The continuity of the whole Book is clearly shown by these 
recurring echoes of the martyr’s prayer. 

** Servants ’ here—dovAwy—refer to SS. Peter and Paul and 
other great Bishops slain in Roman persecutions. 


348 THE REVELATION 


3. Καὶ δεύτερον εἰρηκαν ᾿Αλληλουϊά. Καὶ 6 καπνὸς αὐτῆς 
ἀναβαίνει εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν ἀιώνων. 


3. And again they said Alleluia. And her smoke ascendeth for ever and 
ever. 


‘‘ Alleluia” is an expression of praise taken from the Psalms, 
where it frequently occurs; the word is not found in the N.T., 
except here. Alleluia may be literally rendered “ All hail to 
Him Who is!”” Taking “ All Hail” as equivalent to ‘‘ Glory 
in the Highest” (Rev. Dr. O’Mahony, the “Cath. Ency.”). 
And her smoke, that is the smoke of those who have adored 
the Beast, “‘ascendeth for ever and ever.” ‘“ And the smoke of 
their torments shall ascend up for ever and ever” (R. xiv. II). 
Rome is put here for her wicked idolatrous inhabitants. 


\ »¥ ε , ε »» td Ν Ν 

4. Καὶ ἔπεσαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι οἱ εἴκοσι τέσσαρες καὶ τὰ 

,’ὔ ΄“ Ν 4 “ lal ~ 4 ΔΝ 

τέσσερα ζῷα, καὶ προσεκύνησαν τῷ Θεῷ τῷ καθημένῳ ἐπὶ 
τῷ θρόνῳ, λέγοντες, ᾿Αμήν, ἁλληλουϊά. 


4. And the four and twenty ancients, and the four living creatures, fell 
down and adored God that sitteth upon the throne, saying, Amen, Alleluia. 


“Rejoice over her thou heaven and ye holy Apostles and 
prophets” (R. xviii. 20). The turn of the Apostles and 
prophets to rejoice has come. Accordingly the four-and-twenty 
ancients “fell down and adored God” on the throne, saying 
Alleluia. This confirms the opinion generally held that the 
four-and-twenty ancients are the twelve prophets of the old 
Law, and the twelve Apostles (see R. iv. 4, notes). And the 
four living creatures did likewise. These have been witnesses 
from the beginning. Their introduction here shows continuity 
(see v. 8, 14, vil. II, xi. 16, xiv. 3). 


5. Καὶ φωνὴ ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου ἐξῆλθεν, λέγουσα, Αἰνεῖτε τῷ 
Θεῷ ἡμῶν πάντες ot δοῦλοι αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ φοβούμενοι αὐτόν, οἱ 
Ν ε , 
μικροὶ καὶ οἱ μεγάλοι. 


5. And a voice came out of the throne saying, Give praise to our God, all 
ye his servants, and you that fear him, little and great. 


(S. -- ἀπὸ τοῦ θρόνου.) 

A voice from “ the throne, saying Give praise to our God,” 
would seem to be the voice of the Lamb, for the Lamb sits 
with the Father on His throne (R. ili. 21), and the Lamb “is 
in the midst of the throne ” (R. vii. 17), “and her son was taken 
up to God, and to His throne” (R. xii. 5). It is objected that 
the Lamb would say ‘‘ my God,” not “ our God.” But Prof. 


THE ROMAN THEME 349 


Stuart holds that the words of our Saviour, “I ascend to my 
Father and to your Father, to my God and your God” 
ase Xx. 17), convey the same meaning as ‘four God.” On 
the other hand at R. iii. 12, where the Lamb is the speaker, 
He speaks of ‘‘ the temple of my God, . . . the name of my God, 
...the name of the city of my God, . . . out of heaven, from 
my God.” | 

“All ye his servants and all you that fear him little and 
great” takes in the whole living Church. Owing to the fall of 
Rome, the Church is free to praise God openly, and is com- 
manded to do so, “ And you that fear Him ” (see xi. 18, notes). 


6. Kat ἤκουσα as φωνὴν ὄχλου πολλοῦ καὶ ὡς φωνὴν 
ὑδάτων πολλῶν, καὶ as φωνὴν βροντῶν ἰσχυρων, λεγόντων, 
ε oo », 4 > 4 uA ε Ἀ ε al ε 
᾿Αλληλουϊά, ὅτι ἐβασίλευσεν Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, ὁ παντοκ- 
ράτωρ. 

6. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice 


of many waters, and as the voice of great thunders, saying Alleluia, for the 
Lord our God, the almighty, hath reigned. 


The appeal is answered by the voice of ‘‘a great multitude,” 
not before the throne, nor in heaven, but ‘‘as the voice of many 
waters,” which refers to living people’(R. xvii. 1-15). A pro- 
longed Alleluia rises from the whole Church, for the reign of 
God is established upon earth. The “ reign” of God connotes 
a visible kingdom. The same sentiment appears at R. xii. 10, 
** Now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our 
God, and the power of his Christ, because the accuser of our 
brethren is cast forth.’ The Church rejoices openly because 
she is acknowledged as supreme in her own sphere for the first 
time in her history. This anticipates the millennium (R. xx. 1-2). 
See also xi. 15-17, notes. 


7. Xaipwpev καὶ ἀγαλλιῶμεν, καὶ δῶμεν τὴν δόξαν αὐτῷ, 
ὅτι ἦλθεν ὃ γάμος τοῦ ἀρνίου, καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ ἡτοίμασεν 
ἑαυτήν. 

7. Let us be glad and rejoice and give glory to him ; for the marriage of 
the Lamb is come ; and his wife hath prepared herself. 


The Church rejoices because the marriage of the Lamb has 
come. She, “His wife hath prepared herself.” The Church 
is the spouse of Christ, and she rejoices because an era of 
spiritual peace has dawned upon her through the destruction of 
paganism. She has prepared herself, by centuries of suffering 
and constancy, for this triumph. The imagery is from the 


350 THE REVELATION 


O.T., where Judah is the spouse of the Lord (Cants. iv. 8 f.; 
Jer. ili. 14; Osee ii. 19, 20). The same idea is frequently ex- 
hibited with reference to Christianity in the N.T., as in 
Matt. xxii. 2, 10, xxv. I f.; Mark 11. 19; Jhn. iii. 29; 
2 Cor. xi. 2. Γάμος is “the marriage feast’? of Matt. xxii. 8, 
to which men were gathered from the highways and the by- 
ways, where there was question of “‘a wedding garment.” 
But the ‘‘ spouse ”’ is prepared. 


8. Kal ἐδόθη αὐτῇ ἵνα περιβάληται βύσσινον λαμπρὸν 
καθαρόν " τὸ γὰρ βύσσινον τὰ δικαιώματα τῶν ἁγίων 
ἐστίν. 


8. And to her it hath been granted that she should clothe herself with 
fine linen, glittering and white, For the fine linen is the justification of the 
saints. 


The “spouse” has been given the gift to clothe herself in, 
βύσσινον AGRE pee Te fine linen,” the byssus of Egypt, brilliant 
and “ καθαρόν ’’ —‘‘ white,” “ spotless,” which was, in fact, the 
customary wadding garment. But then we are told not to take 
it literally. ‘‘ The fine linen is the justification of the saints.” 
It is a symbol of the grace of God, freely given. This leads on 
to the contemplation of the Church triumphant. 

The verb διδόναι, “ to give,” is used in this book to denote 
the gifts of God to His Church, as in the letters to the Seven 
Churches. 


9. Καὶ λέγει μοι Γράψον, Μακάριοι οἱ εἰς τὸ δεῖπνον τοῦ 
γάμου τοῦ ἀρνίου κεκλημένοι, καὶ λέγει μοι, Οὗτοι οἵ λόγοι 
ἀληθινοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰσίν. 


9. And he saith to me, Write, Blessed are they who are called to the 
marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith to me, These words of God are 
true. 


“The marriage supper of the Lamb” is in heaven. “ The 
kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who made a marriage 
for his son, and he sent his servants to call them that were 
invited to the marriage” (Matt. xxii. 2, 3). ‘The spouse”’ 
reappears in heaven at R. xxi. 9, where one of the seven angels, 
who had the vials, says, ‘‘ Come and I will show thee the bride, 
the wife of the Lamb,” and he shows the Seer the holy city, 
the new Jerusalem, the Church triumphant. 

We gather from the next verse that it is the angel of R. xvii. 1, 
and of R. xxi. 9, who says “ Write.” He is present to explain 
matters to the Seer, or rather to us. ‘A great voice from the 


THE ROMAN THEME 351 


throne,” referring to the “‘ bride’ and the rewards of heaven, 
says, later, ‘* Write for these words are most faithful and true”’ 
(R. xxi. 5). And the “ Hebrew prophet” angel repeats the 
words, in the same connection, at R. xxii. 6. Thus, thrice 
repeated, in the most solemn way the promises and prephecies 
of Revelation are guaranteed. The command to write would 
seem to indicate that S. John was fully occupied in listening to 
the angel. 


10. Kat ἔ ἔπεσα ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ “προσκυνῆσαι 
αὐτῷ. καὶ λέγει μοι, Ὅρα μή, σύνδουλος σού εἶμι καὶ τῶν 
ἀδελφῶν σου τῶν ἐχόντων τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ. τῷ Θεῷ 
προσκύνησον. ἡ γὰρ μαρτυρία Ἰησοῦ ἐστὶν τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς 
προφητείας. 

το. And I fell before his feet to adore him, And he saith to me, See thou 
do it not, I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren who have the 


‘testimony of Jesus. Adore God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of 
prophecy. 


The Seer fell at the feet of the δηρεὶ---προσκυνῆσαι αὐτῳ-- 
“to do obeisance to him,” “to prostrate himself before him.” 
The word connotes deferential worship; not λατρεία, from 
λατρέυω, “‘to serve God,” which means “adoration.” See 
λατρεύουσιυ, R. vii. 15. The custom still prevails, in India, of 
doing homage to princes and potentates by prostration at their 
feet. In Eastern countries this customary reverence does not 
mean worship, in a religious sense, at all. However, it was 
otherwise at Rome, and the opportunity is taken of inculcating 
a lesson against anything like Cesar worship. ‘‘ See thou do it 
not,” that is to say, do not worship a creature, however exalted. 
** Adore God.” 

That the Seer knew the character of the angel and did not 
give him divine worship is shown by contrasting this episode 
with that of the vision of Christ at R. i. 17. ‘‘ And when I saw 
him I fell at his feet as dead””—as νεκρός. This angel dis- 
closes his identity here, and still further at R. xxii. 9. He 
was a “ fellow servant” of S. John’s, in the days when the 
Apostles called themselves officially the servants of God. He 
belonged to the Apostolic order. He was “ of thy brethren,” 
that is to say he was a Hebrew Christian, who had the testi- 
mony of Jesus. “‘The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of 
prophecy,” he tells us; and at R. xxii.g he says, “I am... 
of thy brethren the prophets.” He was therefore a Hebrew 
Christian prophet, who had predeceased S. John. He is 
seemingly the angel of whom it is written, ‘‘I Jesus have sent 


352 THE REVELATION 


my angel to testify to you these things in the churches” 
(R. xxii. 16). This again corresponds with the opening lines of 
the Book, “ And signified sending by his angel to his servant 
John” (R. i. 1). And it corresponds with “ Behold I send my 
angel kefore thy face who shall prepare the way before thee” 
(Mark 1. 2; Malac. iii. 1). ‘My angel” is found nowhere else 
in the Holy Scriptures. This was said of John the Baptist, 
who was a Hebrew Christian prophet, and a fellow servant of 
S. John the Evangelist, who preached “‘ the kingdom of heaven 
is at hand” (Matt. iii. 2), who “ gave testimony” of Jesus 
(Jhn i. 32, 34). 


11. Kat εἶδον τὸν οὐρανὸν ἠνεῳγμένον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος 
λευκός, καὶ 6 καθήμενος ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν καλούμενος πιστὸς καὶ 
ἀληθινός, καὶ ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ κρίνει καὶ πολεμεῖ. 

11. And I saw heaven opened and beheld a white horse, and he that sat 


upon him was called Faithful and True, and with justice he judgeth and 
fighteth. 


(The use of capital letters here, as in other places, is taken 
from the Vulgate.) 

Καὶ, “and,” introduces a new vision which takes us back to 
‘a door open in heaven” at R. iv. 1, and the “ white horse” at 
R. vi. 2, which leads on to the battle of Armagedon, reintro- 
duced here as a fitting conclusion to the Roman theme. Three 
unclean spirits went forth from the mouths of the dragon, the 
beast, and the false prophet, and gathered the kings of the 
earth “to battle against the great day of the Almighty God” 
(R. xvi. 13, 14). The great day has come. Heaven is opened 
for the passage of an army. And behold ‘‘a white horse and 
he that sat upon him.” We have seen ‘‘a white horse and 
he that sat upon him ’—‘‘ καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος λευκός, καὶ ὁ καθήμενος 
ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν ᾿---αῖ R. vi. 2. Identical words are used in both 
places to mark the identity of this rider with Him who “ went 
forth conquering that he might conquer.” He is the conqueror 
of Armagedon. ‘‘ He was called Faithful and True.” ‘“‘ Faith- 
ful” identifies him with ‘‘ Jesus Christ, who is the faithful 
witness” (R. i. 5). “True,” identifies him with the Holy 
One and the True One at R. iii. 7, and the combination 
“Faithful and True”’ identifies him with “the Amen, the 
faithful and true Witness who is the beginning of the creation 
of God” (R. iii. 14). 

As this is the prelude to a prediction of great slaughter, the 
end of the shattered Empire, we are again reminded “ with 
justice he judgeth and fighteth,” as at xix. 2. ‘‘ The angel of the 


THE ROMAN THEME 353 


waters,” a Roman himself, and Bishop of Rome, expressed this 
sentiment at R. xvi. 5, where see notes. 


12. Oi δὲ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ὡς φλὸξ πυρός, Kal ἐπὶ τὴν 
κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ διαδήματα πολλά, ἔχων ὄνομα γεγραμμένον 
ὃ οὐδεὶς οἶδεν εἰ μὴ αὐτός. 


12. And his eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head many diadems, 
having a name written which no man knoweth but himself. 


Further marks of identification are given that we may know 
who it is that rides forth on the white horse. ‘ His eyes were 
as a flame of fire,” is taken from R. i. 14, which again is 
amplified at R. ii. 18. ‘The Son of God who hath eyes as a 
flame of fire.” ‘‘ And on His head many diadems,” contrasts 
with the dragon at R. xii. 3, and the Beast at R. xiii. 1. For 
He is ὁ ἄρχων, Prince (or King) of the kings of the earth 
(R. i. 5). He is “ King of Kings” (R. xix. 16). All the 
diadems of the earth are His. 

*‘ Having a name written which no man knoweth but him- 
self.” This refers to R. ii. 17, where see notes. We are 
incapable of understanding the mystery of the name of the 
Son of God. “No one knoweth the Son but the Father” 
(Matt. xi. 27). But the Seer supplies a name, in the next 
sentence, by which we may know the rider of the white horse. 
He is *‘ the Word of God.” 


Ν la ε ld ε 4 9 
13. Καὶ περιβεβλημένος ἱμάτιον ῥεραντισμένον αἵματι, 
καὶ κέκληται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, Ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ. 


13. And he was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood ; and his 
name is called, The Word of God. 


(S. = pepappévov.) 

In Isaias lxiii. 1 to 4 we are told of the beautiful one that 
cometh from Edom, with dyed garments; red, “like theirs 
that tread in the winepress; . . . I have trodden the winepress 
alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me. I have 
trampled on them in my indignation, and have trodden them 
down in my wrath, and their blood is sprinkled on my garments, 
and I have stained all my garments. ... For the day of 
vengeance is in my heart.” All this is very significant of the 
matter in hand—final vengeance on Rome. Compare with 
Rey. xiv. 20: “‘And the winepress was trodden without the 
city, and blood came out of the winepress.”’ 

The treading of the winepress has been in progress for some 

23 


354 THE REVELATION ~ 


centuries. It approaches its end. The victor’s garment is 
dyed with blood. 

“ His name is called the Word of God.” That is to say by 
that name we may know Him. It is an expression frequently 
used in the N.T. for the Gospel of Christ. It appears to have 
been a Jewish appellation of the Messias. Josephus, in the 
beginning of his discourse to the Greeks concerning Hades, 
says, “ At the resurrection and general judgment God the Word 
shall come as a Judge, whom we call Christ.” S. John used 
“the Word” as a designation of our Lord in his first Epistle, 
writing, “ Our hands have handled of the word of life” 
(α Jhn.i. 1). And again, “ There are three who give testimony 
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And 
these three are one” (1 Jhn. v. 7). When S. John wrote 
his Gospel, some years afterwards, he opened with, “In the 
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and 
the Word was God” (Jhn. i. 1). ‘ His name is called the 
Word of God,” is one of many proofs that S. John the 
Evangelist wrote the Apocalypse, for he alone in the Holy 
Scriptures has used this expression. 


ἈΝ .. 5 ’ὕ A 5 » 5 nw 5 4 
14. Kat τὰ στρατεύματα τὰ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἠκολούθει 
5 ~ 5» 5» 9 nw > 4 4 A 
αὐτῷ ἐφ᾽ ἵπποις λευκοῖς, ἐνδεδυμένοι βύσσινον λευκὸν 
καθαρόν. 


14. And the armies that are in heaven followed him on white ΠοΓβ685,. 
clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 


“ The armies that are in heaven” has a wide significance. It 
includes the angelic host, S. Michael and his angels (R. xii. 7), 
as well as the redeemed. ‘‘Is there any numbering of his 
soldiers?” (Job xxv. 3). ‘‘The armies of the living God” 
(τ: Kings xxvii. 26). 

White horses are emblems of victory (see R. vi. 2, notes). 
Fine linen, white and spotless, is put for the uniform of heaven. 
At verse 8, above, we have “‘ Bicawov λαμπρόν καθαρόν, cloth- 
ing the Church triumphant. See also R. iii. 4, 5, 18, iv. 4 
(R. iii. 4, 5; see R. xix. 8, notes). All this is symbolism. If 
we refer back to R. vi. 2, 8, we find the actual fighting forces 
which followed our Lord and conquered Rome are war, famine, 
pestilence and death. The red horse of battle is engaged here. 


THE ROMAN THEME 355 


Ν > Le ld > A > 4 ε ’ 
15. Kaw ἐκ τοῦ. στόματος αὕτου ἐκπορεύεται ῥομφαία 
ὀξεῖα, ἵ ἵνα ἐν αὐτῇ πατάξῃ τὰ ἔθνη " καὶ αὐτὸς ποιμανεῖ 
αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ᾽ καὶ αὐτὸς πατεῖ τὴν "ληνὸν τοῦ 
οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ παντοκράτορος. ᾿ 
15. And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp two-edged sword, that with 
it he may strike the Gentiles. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron ; 


and he treadeth the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God, the 
Almighty. 


Haydock’s Bible translates τὰ ἔθνη, “‘ the Genta other 
Bibles, “‘ the nations.” As the whole of these passages relate to 
the chastisement of pagan Rome, Gentiles would seem to 
express the mind of the Seer. Pagan nations were commonly 
called ‘‘ Gentiles” in the N.T. (Matt. xii. 21; Mark x. 33; 
Luke xvili, 32; Acts x. 45). That was the Jewish meaning of 
τὰ ἔθνη when the Apocalypse was written. All nations were 
then either Jewish or pagan. 

In the vision of our Lord in Chapter i. 16, ‘ From his mouth 
came out a sharp two-edged sword” (see also ii. 12); this serves 
to identify the rider of the white horse, and to explain his 
mission, which is one of execution of judgment. To the red 
horse which followed Him was granted ‘‘to take away peace 
from the earth ... and to him was given a great sword” 
(R. vi. 4). 

The rod of iron refers to Psalm ii. 8, “1 will give thee the 
Gentiles for thy inheritance. .. . Thou shalt rule them with 
a rod of iron, and shalt break them in pieces like a potter’s 
vessel.”” The dominion of paganism is broken up and handed 
over to the Church of the millennium. To the Church of 
Thyatira was given power over the nations (τῶν ἐθνῶν, the 
Gentiles), to rule them with a rod of iron (R. ii. 27, where see 
notes). Weare on the eve of the millennium, 1.6., the Church 

of Thyatira. Again at R. xii. 5, The woman ‘“ brought forth 
aman child who was to rule all nations (πάντα ta ἔθνη) witha 
rod of iron.’ 

** And he ott the winepress of the fury of the wrath of 
God.” For the wine of the wrath of God, see R. xiv. 10, 
xvi. 10, and for the winepress see xiv. 20, notes. 


16, Kat ἔχει. ἐπὶ τὸ ἱμάτιον καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν μηρὸν αὐτοῦ 
ὄνομα γεγραμμένον, βασιλεὺς βασιλέων καὶ κύριος κυρίων. 


16. And he has on his garment and on his thigh written, King of Kings 
and Lord of Lords. 


In this final scene of the contest with the dragon, the beast, 
the false prophet, and the kings of the earth, our Lord appears 


356 THE REVELATION 


at the head of His followers with His high titles blazoned on 
His garments: King of Kings—a very fine picture, and a striking 
rong ac to His conquest over “the kings of the whole 
earth.” 

We have had the title King of Kings before at R. xvii. 14 in 
connection with this same battle. In the O.T. this title is 
seen with reference to the King of Babylon (Ezech. xxvi. 7). 
It was the recognised title of the Parthian kings from the time 
of Orodes 38 B.c., and was in use when S. John was preaching 
the Gospel on the Euphrates. Goterzés, a Parthian satrap, 
who ruled about A.D. 40, took the title of Satrap of Satraps, 
or Lord of Lords, before he was proclaimed “‘ King of Kings.” 
He reigned A.D. 41 to 51. It agrees perfectly with “ The white 
horse and he that sat on him had a bow, and a crown was 
given to him” at R. vi. 2 (where see notes). The same title is 
given to our Lord, Jesus Christ, by S. Paul (1 Tim. vi. 15). 
This distinguishing title, carried into battle, blazoned on his 
vesture, by the leader of an army, is of the essence of heraldry. 
It may have been a Parthian custom. 


17. Kai εἶδον ἕνα ἄγγελον ἑστῶτα ἐν τῷ ἡλίῳ καὶ 
ἔκραξεν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ λέγων πᾶσιν τοῖς ὀρνέοις τοῖς πετο- 
μένοις ἐν μεσουρανήματι Δεῦτε συνάχθητε εἰς τὸ δεῖπνον 
τὸ μέγα τοῦ Θεοῦ. 


17. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud 
voice, saying to all the birds that did fly through the midst of heaven, 
Come and gather yourselves together to the great supper of God. 


In anticipation of the great slaughter of the enemies of God, 
an angel calls the vultures from the midst of heaven to sup 
upon their flesh. Similar imagery is found in Jeremias (vii. 33) 
and Ezechiel (xxxix. 4, 17). Vultures have remarkable powers 
of vision. They circle in the air at such altitudes as to be 
invisible to man, ἐν μεσουρανήματι. When a dead body lies. 
exposed they appear like specks in the sky, and in a very short 
time perch round the body. They are recognised scavengers. 
S. John was familiar with the Egyptian vulture, very common 
in Palestine. An angel standing in the sun is well placed to. 
call vultures ‘‘ together to the great supper of God.” 


THE ROMAN THEME 357 


18. Ἵνα φάγητε σάρκας βασιλέων καὶ σάρκας χιλιάρ- 
χων καὶ σάρκας ἰσχυρῶν καὶ σάρκας ἵππων καὶ τῶν κα η: 
μένων ἐπ αὐτῶν, καὶ σάρκας πάντων ἐλευθέρων τε καὶ 
δούλων καὶ μικρῶν καὶ μεγάλων. 


18, That you may eat the flesh of Kings and the flesh of tribunes and the 
flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them, 
and the flesh of all freemen and bondsmen, little and great. 


(S.= ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς.) 

The object of calling the vultures together is to eat the flesh 
of kings, and tribunes, men and horses, freemen and bondsmen, 
the leaders and captains and the rank and file of the army, 
gathered together, by the dragon, the Beast, and the false 
prophet, “‘against the great day of the Almighty God” 
(R. xvi. 14). And they were gathered into a place called 
Armagedon. Observe the correspondence between these men, 
the food for vultures, and the Christians who suffered persecu- 
-tion at the hands of Rome (R. vi. 15). We have kings, 
tribunes, mighty men, freemen and bondsmen, in both places, 
denoting the Roman Empire. The l/ex talionis is in view, a 
king for a king, a tribune for a tribune, and so on. But whereas 
the Christians were driven into hiding by persecution, their per- 
secutors the Romans are made the food of vultures. To leave 
the dead a prey to loathsome vultures was to inflict upon them 
the worst possible indignity in the eyes of the Jews. Hence 
this lot is foretold for the pagan persecutors of the Church. 
It also carries out the judgment pronounced against Rome, 
“Render to her as she hath rendered to you, and double ye the 
double, according to her works ” (R. xviii. 6). 


19. Kat εἶδον τὸ θηρίον καὶ τοὺς βασιλεῖς τὴς γῆς καὶ 
τὰ στρατεύματα αὐτῶν συνηγμένα ποιῆσαι τὸν πόλεμον 
μετὰ 3 τοῦ καθημένου ἐπὶ τοῦ ἵππου, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ στρατεύματος 
αὐτοῦ. 


19. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, 
gathered together to make war with him that sat upon the horse and with 
his army. 


The Seer sees the battlefield of Armagedon. The Beast is 
there, and the ten kings. ‘‘ These shall fight with the Lamb, 
and the Lamb shall overcome them, because he is Lord of Lords 
and King of Kings” (R. xvii. 14). The armies gathered 
together at Armagedon meet, but the battle is not described. 
It is a foregone conclusion. The vultures are waiting to feed 
on Roman corpses. We have a special interest in the date of 


358 THE REVELATION 


this battle as it is one of the events leading up to the millen- 
nium. 

There was a battle between Attila, the scourge of God, and 
the Romans in the year 451, which was the prelude to the fall 
of the Empire of the West. On that occasion the ten kings 
lent their strength and power to the Beast (R. xvii. 13). 
Gibbon in describing the battle says: 


**The Visigoths, the most powerful of the so-called barbarians, 
consented to join with Rome. The examples of the Goths deter- 
mined several tribes or nations that seemed to fluctuate between 
the Huns and Romans. The indefatigable diligence of the patrician 
gradually collected the troops of Gaul and Germany, who had 
formerly acknowledged themselves the subjects or soldiers of the 
Republic, but who now claimed the rewards of voluntary service 
and the rank of independent allies—the Leeti, the Armoricans, the 
Breones, the Saxons, the Burgundians, the Sarmatians or Alani, 


the Repnarians, and the Franks. . . . Such are the various armies 
which . .. advanced .. . to give battle to the numerous host of 
Attila.” 


Besides the above-mentioned nations, Gibbon says the 
Rugiens, the Heruli, and the Thuringians joined the Roman 
forces. Attila, like Titus, had an idea of his divine mission. 
“The doctrine of predestination, so favourable to martial 
virtue, was carefully inculcated by the King of the Huns, who 
assured his subjects that the warriors protected by Heaven 
were safe and invulnerable amidst the darts of the enemy” 
(“ D. and F.,” cap. xxxv.). 

In the battle of Chalons which is foreshadowed, there were 
engaged on the side of the Huns an army of from 500,000 
to 700,000 men, and on the side of the Romans an equal 
number. The slain were computed to have numbered from ἡ 
180,000 to 300,000. The total casualties by modern reckoning 
would have been over 500,000. ‘One of the most gigantic as 
well as most important contests recorded in history” (‘‘ Ency. 
Brit.’’). 

Although this battle could not be claimed as a decisive victory 
for either side, it shattered the Western Empire. Attila 
returned in the year 452, conquered the north of Italy, and 
threatened Rome. He died in Italy in 453. A few years 
afterwards, Romulus Augustulus, a Parmonian, the last Roman 
Emperor, resigned, and the Roman Empire ceased to exist 
A.D. 476. 


THE ROMAN THEME 359 


20. Kat ἐπιάσθη τὸ θηρίον καὶ per αὐτοῦ ὁ ψευδοπρο- 
φήτης ὁ ποιήσας τὰ σημεῖα ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, ἐν οἷς ἐπλάνη- 
σεν τοὺς λαβόντας τὸ χάραγμα τοῦ θηρίου καὶ τοὺς προσ- 
κυνοῦντας τῇ εἰκόνι αὐτοῦ. ζῶντες ἐβλήθησαν οἱ δύο εἰς. 
τὴν λίμνην τοῦ πυρὸς τῆς καιομένης ἐν θείῳ. 

20. And the beast was taken and with him the false prophet who wrought 
signs before him, wherewith he deceived them who received the mark of 


the beast and who adored his image. These two were cast alive into the 
pool of fire burning with brimstone. 


We have not seen the Beast, except for the purpose of identi- 
fication, since the Seer foretold this coming battle at R. xvi. 14. 

As the result of the battle the Beast=the line of the Czsars, 
and the false prophet=the pagan priesthood, are cast into 
the pool of fire. The false prophet is described in a way to 
identify him clearly with the beast from “the earth” in 
Chapter xiii., 11 ff., where see notes. The beast from the 
earth was called the false prophet when the gathering of the 
army of the dragon and the Beast, preparatory to Armagedon, 
took place (R. xvi.,13f.). His appearance both there and here 
is meant, inter alia, to show that the same event is in view in 
both places—the battle of ‘‘the great day of Almighty God.” 
When the battle took place paganism and the Cesars perished 
together. As a matter of history they never revived. As a 
matter of exegesis they never will, for the pool of fire burning 
with brimstone is hell, out of which there is no escape. See 
R. xx. 9, 10, and xxi. 8. ‘‘ Cast alive into the pool of fire” 
follows the punishment of Dathan and Abiron in the O.T., “ And 
they go down alive into hell, you shall know that they have 
blasphemed the Lord” (Numb. xvi. 30). Blasphemy in a 
similar sense is the principal charge against the Beast (R. xiii. 
5, 6). The Psalmist referring to the persecuting Jews says, 
“Let them go down alive into hell” (Ps. liv. 16). 

“ ExrAavnoev”’ should be translated “seduced” to keep in 
touch with “πλανᾷ at R. ΧΙ]. 14. 


21. Kai οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπεκτάνθησαν ἐν τῇ ῥομφαίᾳ τοῦ 
καθημένου ἐπὶ τοῦ ἵππου τῇ ἐξελθούσῃ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος 
αὐτοῦ, καὶ πάντα τὰ ὄρνεα ἐχορτάσθησαν ἐκ τῶν σαρκῶν 

» A 
αὐτῶν. 

21. And the rest were slain by the sword of him that sitteth upon the 


horse, which proceedeth out of his mouth ; and all the birds were filled 
with their flesh. 


And ‘‘the rest,” οἱ λοιποὶ, slain by the sword of justice, 
amount to such a considerable number that all the vultures 


360 THE REVELATION 


“that did fly through the midst of heaven” (R. xix. 17) were 
ἐχορτάσθησαν, “satiated”; which leads one to suppose that 
“the rest who are at Thyatira” (R. ii. 24), may mean a great 
number. 

This is the end of the Roman theme, a pageant of conquest, 
in which “the King of Kings” appears on the stage trium- 
phantly with his victorious army, a fine dramatic conclusion. 


PART V 


THE MILLENNIUM 


CHAPTER XX 


THE “ millennium ” is that period of a thousand years in which, 
according to this Book, ‘‘the dragon,” “Satan,” is ‘‘ bound” up 
and “‘ cast into the bottomless pit . . . that he shall no more 
seduce the nations till the thousand years be finished” 
(R. xx. 2, 3). It is the Cerinthian “era of pleasure” which 
gave rise to the great millenharian and Montanist controversies 
of the second and third centuries. It is that “‘era of peace” 
which our “ daily papers” constantly refer to as in ‘‘ the dim 
and distant future’! 

The Seer gives us definite indications as to the time of the 
beginning of the millennium. The battle of Armagedon took 
place before the destruction of Rome, as it is referred to in 
Chapter xvi., with reference to the fall of the Empire. After 
that in Chapter xviii. we have a long description of the fall of 
Rome. The battle is then put at the end of the Roman theme 
for effect. Even supposing it has no reference whatever to the 
battle of Chalons, simply summing up in symbolism the result 
of the war between Christ and the pagan enemies of His Church; 
in any case the destruction of Rome stands out prominently as 
concluding the Roman theme, and the millennium must be 
dated from that time. We have seen that Gibbon puts the 
end of the Roman Empire in the 6th century (Historic Notes, 
Ρ. 80). We must accept that as approximately the date of 
the beginning of the millennium. Dr. Swete refers to this 
date as follows: ‘If, however, the visions are to be regarded 
as following each other in something like chronological 
order (but see v. 1 notes), S. John has in view the moment of 
the overthrow of the Beast and the False Prophet, i.e., the 
final break up of the Roman world-power and its ally the 
pagan system of priestcraft snd ΕΟΡΕΘΊΗΘα ” (op. cit., p. 266). 

301 


362 THE REVELATION 


Ἀ > »” , 3 A > lal 
1. Kat εἶδον ἄγγελον καταβαίνοντα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, 
ἔχοντα τὴν κλεῖν τῆς ἀβύσσου καὶ ἅλυσιν μεγάλην ἐπὶ 
τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ. 
1. And I saw an angel coming down from heaven having the key of the 
bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. 


Καὶ, “ and,” introduces a new train of visions. “An angel”... 
“ καταβαίνοντα ἐκ Tov οὐρανοῦ,᾽ as at R. νι]. 1, having the key 
of the bottomless pit.” "᾿Αβύσσος, means ‘‘ without bottom.” 
It was a place of heat and darkness in which the fallen angels 
were chained up till the judgment day (Jude, verse 6; 
2 Pet. ii. 4). At R. ix. 1, the key of the abyss was lent to a 
fallen angel for a special purpose. Here an angel comes down 
from heaven with the key. He is sent from God, who keeps 
the key (R. i. 18). He has a great chain, so great, that he 
carries it, ἐπὶ τὴν χεῖρα, “on his hand,’ not in his hand. 
The “chain,” “ἅλυσιν, is a prison fetter. S. Peter was 
chained with “‘ two chains,” ἁλύσεσι δυσὶ ; ‘and the chains fell 
off his hands” (Acts xii. 6, 7). 


Ν 5» , Ν ,ὔ ε ¥ c > A Ψ 
2. Καὶ ἐκράτησεν τὸν δράκοντα ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος, ds 
ἐστιν διάβολος καὶ ὁ σατανᾶς, καὶ ἔδησεν αὐτὸν χίλια ἔτη. 


2. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and 
satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 


The great red dragon who appeared at R. xii. 3, as “a 
wonder in heaven,” ‘‘ having seven heads”’ “and ten horns,” is 
now chained up. It is the same dragon, we know, because 
S. John disclosed his true character at R. xii. g—‘O δράκων. .. 
ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος... διάβολος καὶ ὁ σατανᾶς, and he identifies 
him, in the above passage, in the same words. The idea set 
forth is that this particular Satan was chained up. We have 
had it impressed upon us that this dragon was allied with 
world-powers and false prophets in persecuting the Church ; 
that he, like the scarlet woman, Babylon, was red with the 
blood of the martyrs. In that character he is restrained for 
1,000 years. The angel bound Satan with a great chain— 
ἅλυσιν peyadnv—showing that great restraint would be put on 
him for a thousand years. 

According to the symbolism of ten and multiples of ten, a 
thousand years should be at least ten centuries. 


THE MILLENNIUM 363 


3. Kai ἔβαλεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον, καὶ ἔκλεισεν καὶ 
ἐσφράγισεν ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ ἵνα μὴ πλανήσῃ ἔτι τὰ ἔθνη ἄχρι 
τελεσθῇ τὰ χίλια ἔτη" καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα δεῖ αὐτὸν λυθῆναι 
μικρὸν χρόνον. 

3. And he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a 


seal upon him, that be should no more seduce the nations till the thousand 
years be finished ; and after that he must be loosed a little time. 


(S. omits καὶ after ἔτη.) 

The bottomless pit was a place of confinement for devils, 
“ And they besought him that he would not command them 
to go into the abyss’”’ (Luke viii. 31). Into this abyss Satan 
was cast, and locked in, ἔκλεισεν ; “and the lock was sealed, 
that he should no longer seduce the nations ”’—‘“‘ τὰ ἔθνη ”’—the 
Gentiles (those who are not God’s people), till the thousand 
years be finished. We have seen that “ He seduced them that 
dwell on the earth by the signs,” etc. (R. xiii. 14); that is 
through the false prophet (see Κα. xix. 20). Satan's action, as 
disclosed in the Apocalypse (R. xii. 4, 13, 17, Xili. 2, 4, xvi. 13), 
has been to war upon the Church, the seed of the woman— 
actual warfare and bloody persecution stirred up by the Gentiles 
against her. He is described as a red dragon, because his 
mission is to shed Christian blood. This chaining up of Satan 
does not mean that there would be no devils left in the world 
to tempt men to sin. It only means that the old Satan of 
Genesis, who was cast down from heaven by S. Michael 
(R. xii. 9), was stopped for a thousand years from inflicting 
bloody persecution upon the Church, through Czsarism and 
false prophets. 

The chaining up stands on precisely the same ground as all 
the other events related in the Apocalypse. It is history pre- 
figured by symbols. The Jewish theme and the Roman theme 
stand the test of history marvellously well. So does this post- 
Roman theme. 

The question before us is, was Satan bound up as a bloody 
persecutor of the Church for a thousand years after the fall of 
Rome—that is from the sixth until the sixteenth century ? 
The historic page answers that question with a distinct 
affirmative. There was no bloody persecution of the Church 
from the sixth till the sixteenth century. More than that, the 
cessation of persecution gave the Church wide expansion. It 
was granted to her “that she should clothe herself with fine 
linen glittering and white,” for the marriage of the Lamb was 
come, and she was prepared (R. xix. 7, 8). 

The millennium consisted in the peaceful development of the 
Catholic Church throughout the world from the sixth to the 


364 THE REVELATION 


sixteenth century. The various nations were converted one 
after another to the faith. The Popes of Rome, as successors 
of the Apostles and Primates of the Church, grew in moral 
power. Freedom of speech was guaranteed to them by the 
possession of an independent principality. Money flowed 
through their hands for the conversion of the heathen. The 
religious orders were founded. In the designing and building 
of stately fanes to the greater honour of God, architecture 
reached its highest development. Music, sculpture, and paint- 
ing lent their aids to worship, and reached, many of them, their 
highest achievements. The Bible was copied, illuminated, and 
adorned with loving skill in thousands of monasteries. The 
ritual of the Church was developed in accordance with its high 
office. The universities were founded. The poor were treated 
with kindness and care, and their wants supplied. The whole 
of Europe acknowledged one faith, one altar, and one Church 
until the sixteenth century. 

Another aspect of this Church, however, is disclosed in 
the letter to Thyatira, viz., its human frailty (R. 11. 18-29). 
Aci, signifying “ must be,” as Dr. Swete points out, indicates 
a necessity founded on the Divine Will, as at Matt. xxiv. 6, 
Jhn. xii. 34, xx. 19. This necessity may be connected with the 
reformation of Thyatira. 

“Α little time ” is contrasted with a thousand years. 


Ν > / mw ὦ , ἥν Ὁ 3 Ν Ν , 

4. Καὶ εἶδον θρόνους καὶ ἐκάθισαν ἐπ᾽ αὐτοὺς, καὶ κρίμα 
ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς, καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν πεπελεκισμένων διὰ τὴν 
μαρτυρίαν Ἴησου καὶ διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ οἵτινες 
οὐ προσεκύνησαν τὸ θηρίον οὐδὲ τὴν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐκ 
ἔλαβον τὸ χάραγμα ἐπὶ τὸ μέτωπον καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν χεῖρα 
αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔζησαν καὶ ἐβασίλευσαν μετὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ 
χίλια ἔτη. 

4. And I saw seats and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given 
unto them; and the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony 
of Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not adored the beast, nor 


his image, nor received his mark on their foreheads or in their hands, and 
they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 


“And I saw seats” reintroduces the vision of the throne 
(R. iv. 4). “ Judgment was given to them ”’—“ For God hath 
judged your judgment on her” (R. xviii. 20). “ And the souls 


of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus””—the — 


souls of the martyrs standing before the throne, with palms in 
their hands (R. vii. g). If we go back to the opening of the 
fifth seal, we read: ‘‘ The souls of them that were slain for the 


THE MILLENNIUM 365 


word of God, and for the testimony which they held . . . cried 
with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord ?” (R. vi. 9, 10). 
“The souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony 
of Jesus” in R. xx. 4, and those who were “‘slain for the 
testimony” in R.vi.g,are the same. These are the souls whose 
bitter cry, “ How long, O Lord (holy and true) dost thou not 
judge and revenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ?”’ 
pervades the Apocalypse. 

** And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”’ 
This is the celebrated millennial passage, which Cerinthus, 
the Montanists, and others, transferred from heaven to earth, 
making it a reign of earthly pleasure for a thousand years. 

The dramatic form of the Book requires a final glimpse of 
the souls under the altar, the moving spirits, as it were, of the 
whole drama; they again appear in evidence, not complaining 
or rejoicing, as heretofore, but tranquilly reigning, seated in the 
judgment seats of heaven. We are told: “Τὸ him that shall 
overcome I will grant to sit with me in my throne”? (R. iii. 21). 
Exd@:cav is the Greek expression used with reference to Pilot, 
who “sat down on-the judgment seat” (Jhn. xix. 13); and with 
regard to Festus, who “sat in the judgment seat”’ (Acts xxv. 6). 
It is the word used at R. ili. 21 and at R.iv. 4, and in the 
corresponding prediction in S. Matthew, “‘ you also shall sit on 
twelve seats judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (xix. 28). We 
are shown the fulfilment of prophecies. 

There is question of the communion of saints here. It isa 
received doctrine of the Church that the saints in heaven both 
see us, hear our prayers, intercede for us, and rejoice at our 
conversion to God. Bossuet draws this lesson from the pages 
of the Apocalypse. 

Our Lord says: “1 say to you that even so there shall be 
joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than | 
upon ninety-nine just, who need not penance” (Luke xv. 7). 
If the saints can experience sorrow as well as joy—sorrow at 
bloody persecution resulting in the apostasy and sin of those 
dear to them on earth; if the cry of the martyrs, How long, O 
Lord ? connotes grief—then the millennium is explained, for 
when the devil was chained up for 1,000 years martyrdom for 
the faith of Jesus ceased for that period. 

The Book of Revelation in many places indicates that the 
souls in heaven take a lively interest in the sorrows and joys of 
the Church Militant. We have the martyr’s prayer at R. vi. Io, 
the silence in heaven at R. viii. 1, the thanksgiving of the 
four-and-twenty ancients at R. xi. 17, and the command to the 
heavens to rejoice at R. xii. 12, and xviii. 20. One of the seven 
angels who had the seven vials, an executive angel engaged in 


366 THE REVELATION 


the punishment of Rome, told 8. John, “1 am thy fellow-servant 
and of thy brethren” (R. xix. 10). See also the Alleluias of 
heaven on the judgment of Rome (R. xix. 1 ff.). 

The millennium of the saints who were “beheaded for the 
testimony of Jesus” need not be a theological question at all for 
us. We, as exegetes, pure and simple, must look upon this as a 
dramatic matter, and give it a dramatic construction. S. John 
having in the first part of the Apocalypse disclosed the saints 
in heaven as crying out in distress ‘‘ How long, O Lord ?” now 
shows them as reigning with Christ for 1,000 years in unalloyed 
bliss. He gives the reason—the devil, who through the 
bloodshed of the martyrs was the cause of that agonizing 
cry “‘ How long, O Lord ?” which pervades the whole Book, is 
now chained up for 1,000 years. The Church is triumphant, 
Christianity spreads over the earth, and the saints in heaven 
look down on the scene with joy. For a thousand years they 
have no occasion to cry out again, How long, O Lord ἢ 

Οἵἴτινες, “ whosoever ”—‘‘ had not adored the Beast, nor his 
image, nor received his mark on their foreheads or in their 
hands,” refers to the martyrs. See R. xiv. 9, II. 


5. Οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν νεκρῶν οὐκ ἔζησαν ἄχρι τελεσθῇ τὰ 
χίλια ἔτη. αὕτη ἡ ἀνάστασις ἡ πρώτη. 


5. The rest of the dead lived not till the thousand years were finished ; 
this is the first resurrection. 


The Seer, having described the martyrs as living and 
reigning with Christ for a thousand years, says that “the rest 
of the dead lived not till the thousand years were finished.” 
Where ἔζησαν corresponds with éncav—“ lived,” in verse 4. 
We must consider the effect of this Revelation on the minds of 
men in the first century. We have seen the martyrs previously 
in a vision of heaven, clothed in white robes, with palm 
branches in their hands, crying with a loud voice, ‘‘ Salvation 
to our God,” and serving Him day and night in His Temple 
(R. vii. g ff.). There is an anthropomorphic look about this 
passage taken with verse 4 above. Many early Christians took 
verse 4 literally, and thought that Christ would reign upon the 
earth for a thousand years. But the Seer explains that this is 
the first resurrection, 1.6., it is not corporeal, and that “ the rest 
of the dead lived not ” in visible presence with Christ “ till the 
thousand years were finished.” In the Book of Revelation 
there is no appreciable interval of time between the end of the 
thousand years and the day of judgment. On the contrary one 
single sentence describes the onslaught of the world upon the 


THE MILLENNIUM 367 


Church and the destruction of the world, followed by the day of 
judgment (R. xx. 7 ff.). Hence early Christians thought that 
the millennium would be followed by a cataclysm involving the 
Church and the world in ruin. They expected, “At the end 
of the (millennial) kingdom, the universal resurrection with the 
final judgment” (J. Kirsch, S.T.D., Encyc. Cath. Millennium). 
S. John apparently meant to convey to them that the rest of 
the dead in Christ will not be seen, like the martyrs moving in 
heaven, until after the general judgment which is seen to follow 
the end of the thousand years. That seems to be a reasonable 
exegesis, bearing in mind that things in this Book are accom- 
modated to the ideas prevailing in the minds of Hebrew Chris- 
tians in S. John’s day. 
Οἱ λοὶποὶ, *‘ the rest,” here stands for unknown millions. 


6. Μακάριος καὶ ἅγιος 6 ἔχων μέρος ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει 
τῇ πρώτῃ. ἐπὶ τούτων ὁ δεύτερος θάνατος οὐκ ἔχει ἐξου- 
σίαν, ἀλλ᾽ ἔσονται ἱερεῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ 
βασιλεύσουσιν per αὐτοῦ χίλια ἔτη. 


6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection ; in 
these the second death hath no power ; but they shall be priests of God 
and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 


' The Seer has the martyrs still in view, ‘who lived and 
reigned with Christ”’ (R. xx. 4). He goes on, “" Blessed and 
holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection,” and later, 
“ Blessed are they who wash their robes in the blood of the 
Lamb” (R. xxi. 14). ‘In these the second death hath no 
power.” That is the promise made to the second age of the 
Church—the age of martyrs. ‘He that shall overcome shall 
not be hurt by the second death” (R. ii. rr). “‘ But they shall 
be priests of God and of Christ.” ‘Because thou wast slain 
and hast redeemed us to God in thy blood . . . and hast made 
us to our God a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign over 
the earth” (R. v. 9, 10). 

If we give due weight to the fact that the Apocalypse was 
written during a period of intense religious persecution, and that 
one of its special objects was to encourage Christians to suffer 
death rather than yield to Cesar worship, we can understand 
that the above lines have this object in view. The martyrs 
shall reign with God in unalloyed bliss, whilst Satan is chained 
up; viz., for a period of a thousand years. The meaning of the 
second death is explained at R. xx. 14, and xxi. 8. It is eternal 
punishment. 


368 THE REVELATION 


7. Καὶ ὅταν τελεσθῇ τὰ χίλια ἔτη, λυθήσεται ὁ σατανᾶς 
ἐκ τῆς φυλακῆς αὐτοῦ. 


7. And when the thousand years shall be finished, satan shall be loosed 
out of his prison. 


The Vulgate combines this verse with the next, verse 8, and 
makes one sentence of it all. It is better than stopping at 

“prison.” The abyss, into which Satan was cast and chained 
and sealed, is now called a “ prison.’ 


8. Kai εξελεύσεται πλανῆσαι τὰ ἔθνη τὰ ἐν ταῖς τέσσαρ- 
σιν γωνίαις τῆς γῆς, τὸν Γὼγ καὶ τὸν Μαγὼγ, συναγαγεῖν 
αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν πόλεμον ὧν ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτῶν ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς 
θαλάσσης. 


8. And shall go forth and seduce the nations which are over the four 
quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, and shall gather them together to 
battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 


At the end of the thousand years, that is in the sixteenth 
century, Satan shall be loosed out of prison. He was loose all 
the time, in every sense except in that of a bloody persecutor 
of the Church. In that sense he was chained up. In that 
sense also he was loosed—“ And he shall go forth and seduce 
the nations ’—7Aavica τὰ €6vn—“ seduce the Gentiles.” The 
Gentiles are put, as usual in this book, for those opposed to 
the Church. We are reminded of the beast from the earth, 
who “‘seduced them that dwell on the earth” (R. xiii. 14); 
another formula for the enemies of the Church. ‘ Which are 
in the four quarters of the earth,” gives the seduction of Satan 
a very widespread character. In these passages the Seer 
adopts the future tense. Once more, as at R. xi. 18, Satan 
stood unbound “‘on the sand of the sea” and gathered against 
“the woman” her enemies, “‘ whose numbers is as the sand of 
the 568. This is a prediction. 

The question arises, Was Satan loosed in the sixteenth 
century and was there a revival of Czsar worship and per- 
secution ? The great and widespread revolt against the Church 
in the sixteenth century, known as the Reformation, answers 
that question. In its essence it was Cesar worship and its 
propaganda was by bloody persecution. 

To confine ourselves to Great Britain. In the reign of 
Henry VIII., in the year 1534, it was enacted that the King 
and his heirs should be the supreme heads of the Church 
of England in spirituals as well as in temporals. It was 
enacted that refusal to accept the King as spiritual head of the 


THE MILLENNIUM 369 


Church was high treason, punishable with death. For this 
Blessed John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, and Blessed Sir 
Thomas More, sometime Lord Chancellor of England, died. 
A series of appalling executions followed (see Gardner, “ Letters 
and Papers” v., villi. pref.). Persecution continued more or 
less for about two centuries in England, Ireland and Scotland. 
Penal laws were enacted against the Church, which went 
beyond the severities of paganism. Priests of the Church were 
hunted down and executed for the offence alone of being priests. 

On shelf, P. 4, of the Bodleian Library is the record of the 
trial at the Old Bailey Sessions, before all the judges of 
England, including the Lord Chief Justice, of six English 
priests, for the sole crime of being in England. The sentence 
runs, “ That you be then severally hanged by the neck, that you 
be cut down alive, that your privy member be cut off, that your 
bowels be taken out and burnt in your view, that your heads be 
severed from your bodies, that your bodies be divided into 
quarters, to be at the King’s disposal” (italics ours). 

Satan’s persecuting day in England, μικρὸν χρόνον, is over; 
and we would gladly forget the past. But the exegesis of 
Revelation requires the mention of these things. The ruined 
abbey churches of Great Britain are the historic monuments 
of this persecution. 

Gog and Magog are symbols of world powers, gathered 
together to battle by Satan. This is the conclusion of the post 
Roman theme, and it is on the same lines as the conclusion of 
the Roman theme. Συναγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς eis τὸν πόλεμον is the 
phraseology of R. xvi.14. We have the climax of a great battle 
in which the enemies of the Church are defeated, and the devil 
is cast into the pool of fire to join the Beast and the false 
prophet (R. xx. 9, 10). 

The prophet Ezechiel foretells the coming of Gog upon the 
land of Israel, as it were, in the last days, ‘‘ And I will rain fire 
and brimstone on him and on his army and upon the many 
nations that are with him. And I will be magnified and 1 
will be sanctified. And I will be known in the eyes of 
many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord” 
(Ezech. xxxviii. 22, 23). This picture is followed in Ezechiel 
by a lengthy description of the heavenly Jerusalem, in which 
God dwells with His people for ever. In like manner the 
Seer follows these passages with a picture of the heavenly 
Jerusalem. 

Gog, Prince of Magog, with his allies, Mesach and Tubal, 
lived in the land between the Euxine and Caspian Seas, and to 
the north, in the Caucasian mountains. They were a terror 
to middle Asia, and have often been called the Scythians of the 

24 


370 THE REVELATION 


East. 5. Augustine holds that they typify the wicked nations, 
who shall assail the Church in the last days. Gog and Magog 
were scriptural characters, known to the “ servants of God” as 
concerned in the last great fight with the hosts of the Lord, in 
which they are destroyed, and peace reigns for ever. See 
Ezech. xxxviii. 

“Whose number is as the sand of the sea,” shows that the 
attack on the Church in the last days will be made by anti- 
Christian forces, not confined to one sect, religion, nation, or 
people. The four quarters of the earth will combine against 
the Church. But not necessarily all at one time. That is not 
indicated. 


9. Kai ἀνέβησαν ἐπὶ τὸ πλάτος τῆς γῆς, Kal ἐκύκλωσαν 
τὴν παρεμβολὴν τῶν ἁγίων καὶ τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἠγαπημένην, 
καὶ κατέβη πῦρ ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ κατέφαγεν 

5» 4 
αὐτούς. 
9. And they ascend upon the breadth of the earth and surround the 


camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God 
out of heaven, and devoured them. 


(5. -- ἐκύκλευσαν. He omits ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ.) 

The Vulgate splits this verse into two, and begins the 
gth verse with “And fire came down.” The Douay Bible 
follows the Vulgate. Owing to the joining together of verses 7 
and 8 in the Vulgate, the above verse is numbered 8. 

In Scriptural language one ascends or goes up to Jerusalem 
from any part of the world, as one goes up to.London from any 
part of England. It is a common figure of speech denoting 
the approach to an important capital city. “The beloved 
city” is the Church, the “ Civitas Det” of S. Augustine. The 
Church is the bride. In the Canticle of Canticles, the ex- 
pression ‘‘ beloved ”’ as applied to the Church occurs frequently 
(i. 12, 11.:8,'9, τὸ, 16, τιν I, 2, 4, §;:6, 8, δι 20, 16,27, VL Te 
vii. 10, II, viii. 14). And the city of the beloved is indicated 
at Canticles ili. 2, 3, 4. 

The Gentiles surround ‘‘the camp of the saints,” the head- 
quarters of the Church Militant. This we take to be Rome of 
the Popes. ‘‘ The primacy of S. Peter and the perpetuity of 
that primacy in the Roman See are dogmatically defined in the 
canons attached to the first two chapters of the Constitution 
‘Pastor AXternus.’... The Pope becomes the chief pastor 
because he is Bishop of Rome; he does not become Bishop of 
Rome because he has been chosen to be head of the universal 
Church” (G. H. Joyce, S.J.M.A., The Cath. Encyc. “ Pope”’). 


THE MILLENNIUM 371 


It looks as if the fulfilment of this prophecy took place at the 
time of the Italian occupation of Rome in the year 1870. 

The history of the Church and the world, from the end of 
the thousand years until the day of judgment, is compressed . 
into this one symbol of the Gentiles coming up against the 
Church from every quarter of the world. It is the old secular 
contest of the Church and the world with the renewal of 
persecution added. It means that nearly all nations will 
harass the Church from time to time, but not all together. 
The centuries that have already elapsed since the sixteenth 
have seen the Reformation attack, the Russian persecution, the 
French Revolution, the French Republic attack, the Italian 
“occupation,” and the Portuguese Republic persecution. Other 
attacks will follow, for so it is written. In every case of 
revolution the dragon “stood before the woman,” the Church, 
that ‘‘he might devour her son” (R. xii. 4). 

‘“‘ And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured 
them.” We have had many opportunities of studying the 
symbolism of fire in this Book. The manifold woes of 
Jerusalem in its last days are covered by the symbolism of fire, 
‘** And the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the 
altar and cast it on the earth” (R. νι]. 5, 7, 8, 10, ix. 17, 18, 
xi. 5). So also in the Roman theme, “ And another angel came 
out from the altar who had power over fire”’ (R. xiv. 18), and 
he ordered the gathering of the vineyard of the earth, and the 
treading of the winepress with its enormous outflow of blood— 
of Roman blood, shed in various wars. See also R. xvi. 8, 
Xvii. 16, xviii. 8. The fire indicated here is the fire of God’s 
wrath, which is a symbol of many forms of punishment. We 
gather that the nations which go up against the Church will 
suffer for it in the end, as the Jews and pagan Rome suffered. 
God will protect His Church. 


10. Kal ὁ διάβολος ὁ πλανῶν αὐτοὺς ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν 
λίμνην τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ θείου, ὅπου καὶ τὸ θηρίον καὶ ὁ 
ψευδοπροφήτης, καὶ βασανισθήσονται ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς 

5 Ν > Μὰ [ων 5.9 
εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. 


10. And the devil who seduced them was cast into the pool of fire and 
brimstone, where both the beast and the false prophet shall be tormented 
day and night for ever and ever. 


The Vulgate ends its 9th verse with “ where both the beast,” 
and makes a short roth verse of the remainder of the sentence, 
and so gets level with the Greek. Having elected to follow 


372 THE REVELATION 


the Greek text of Brandscheid, we have no choice in the 
matter. 

As a sign that we have reached the end of the contest, the 
devil is cast into hell. The Beast and the false prophet were 
cast into the pool of fire at R. xix. 20; and we are presently 
told that this is “the second death” (R. xx. 14). The Beast 
and the false prophet, 7.e., paganism, cannot again dominate the 
world. They remain in the hell of the damned, where the 
dragon will join them at the last day. 


PART VI 


THE GENERAL JUDGMENT 


dt. Kai εἶδον θρόνον μέγαν λευκὸν καὶ τὸν καθήμενον 

ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, οὗ ἀπὸ τοῦ προσώπου ἔφυγεν ἡ γῆ καὶ ὁ οὐρανός, 
καὶ τόπος οὐχ εὑρέθη αὐτοῖς. 

11, And I saw a great white throne and him that sat upon it, from whose 


presence the earth and heaven fled away, and there was no place found for 
them. 


Kal, “and,” again introduces a new theme. The Seer follows 
the Hebrew Scriptures, where still greater transitions are made 
by I= «al, viz., the passing from one book to another. Even 
independent books sometimes commence with %, e.g., Lev. i. I 
and Num. i. 1. 

The vision of the “throne in heaven and one sitting upon the 
throne” (R. iv. 2) is again in evidence. The occasion is’ the 
final judgment. ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away” 
(Matt. xxiv. 35). “But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief, 
in which the heavens shall pass away . . . and the earth . . 
shall be burnt up ” (2 Pet. iii. 10). To show that this symbolism 
refers to the end of the world, the dead are immediately 
marshalled to judgment (see R. vi. 14, notes). There can be no 
mistake about it, that this vision refers to the day of: judgment. 
It is the only convincing picture of the last days in the Book. 


12. Καὶ εἶδον τοὺς νεκρούς τοὺς μεγάλους καὶ τοὺς 
μικροὺς, ἑστῶτας ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου, καὶ βιβλία ἠνοίχ- 
θησαν, καὶ ἄλλο βιβλίον ἠνοίχθη, ὅ ἐστιν τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ 
ἐκρίθησαν ou νεκροὶ ἐκ τῶν γεγραμμένων ἐν τοῖς βιβλίοις 
κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν. 


12. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and 
the books were opened ; and another book was opened, which is the book 
of life ; and the dead were judged by those things which were written in 
the books, according to their works. 


The dead of every degree, high and low, rich and poor, stand 
before the throne to be judged according to their works. And 
373 


374 THE REVELATION 


the books were opened, as in Daniel, vii. το. The dead are 
judged by their own actions, as recorded in the books, a final 
and conclusive proof of the value of “works” in the scheme 
of salvation. And the Book of Life was opened. It was 
promised “to him that shall overcome” in the Church of Sardis, 
“T will not blot his name out of the book of life” (R. iii. 5). 
It is called the book of life of the Lamb at R. xiii. 8, and again 
at R. xxi.27. The martyrs were given to understand that their 
names are in the Book of Life of the Lamb, and the names of 
all the elect, who are destined to heaven, are in the Book of 
Life. See R. xx. 15. Nevertheless, all are judged according to 
their works. See 2 Cor. v. 10. See also next verse. 


x, » ε 4 Ν Ν Ν 5 > ~ Ν 
13. Καὶ ἔδωκεν ἡ θάλασσα τοὺς νεκρὸυς τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ 
ν Ἀ wn 
ὁ θάνατος καὶ ὁ ἄδης ἔδωκαν τοὺς νεκροὺς τοὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς, 
καὶ ἐκρίθησαν ἕκαστος κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν. 


13. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hell gave 
up their dead that were in them, and they were judged every one according 
to their works. 


Not only are they judged who die in the final cataclysm, when 
heaven and earth pass away, but the past gives up its dead 
also. Death itself, even Hades, gives up its dead. Death and 
“hell” followed the red horse, where death stands for pestilence 
and Hades for limbo (R. vi. 8). The Seer makes a clear 
distinction between Hades and the pool of fire. Josephus in 
his discourse to the Greeks ‘Concerning Hades”’ says, ‘‘ Hades 
wherein the souls of men are confined until a proper season, 
which God hath determined, when He will make a resurrection 
of all men from the dead” (v.). The souls of the dead from 
Hades, united with their bodies, given up by death, are judged 
according to their works. It is hinted that the Abyss and 
Hades are distinct places. At R. ix. 1 a fallen angel is given 
the key of the bottomless pit, τῆς ἀβύσσου. Our Lord held the 
key of “ Hades” (R. i. 18). Smoke came out of the Abyss as 
from a furnace (R. ix. 2). Apollyon is the angel of the Abyss 
(R. ix. 11). The two witnesses are slain by “‘the Beast from 
the abyss” (R. xi. 7). The Beast (Nero) came up out of the 
Abyss, and went to destruction (R. xvii. 8). An angel came 
down from heaven with the key of the Abyss (R. xx. 1). Satan 
is cast into the Abyss (R. xx. 3). Satan is “loosed out of his 
prison "-τῆς φυλακῆς (R. xx. 7). The Abyss is therefore a 
prison, like Hades. The Seer mentions Hades in connection 
with men, and the Abyss in connection with demons. He 


THE GENERAL JUDGMENT 375 


seems to have three places in view, the prison of men= Hades, 
the prison of demons, the Abyss, and the final place of the 
demons and the damned “the pool of fire burning with 
brimstone”’ (R. xix. 20). 

“Ἕκαστος, each one, individually, is judged according to his 
works. So Matt. xvi. 27; Rom. 11. 6; 1 Pet. i. 17. 


14. Καὶ ὁ θάνατος καὶ ὁ ἄδης ἐβληθησαν εἰς τὴν λίμνην 
τοῦ πυρός, οὗτος ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερός ἐστιν, ἡ λίμνη τοῦ 
πυρός. 


14. And hell and death were cast into the pool of fire : this is the second 
death. 


That ἅδης is but a temporary habitation is shown here by its 
being cast into the pool of fire, with death, at the day of 
judgment. Death and Hades—personified—were looked upon 
as the enemies of man. “And the enemy death shall be 
destroyed last” (x Cor. xv. 26). “And when this mortal hath 
put on immortality . .. Death is swallowed up in victory” 
(x Cor. xv. 54). See Osee xili. 14. 

The pool of fire, into which the Beast, the false prophet, 
Satan, and the damned were cast (R. xix. 20, xx. 9-15), is the 
second death, the eternal one; εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων 
(ΕΚ. xx. το). 

“The pool of fire’ is mentioned twice in the Greek, above. 


15. Kai εἴ τις οὐχ εὑρέθη ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ τῆς ζωῆς yeypap- 
μένος, ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν λίμνην τοῦ πυρός. 


15. And whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into 
the pool of fire. 


This vision accords with the words of our Lord: “ Depart 
from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared 
for the devil and his angels” (Matt. xxv. 41). 

So ends the Revelation of the history of the Church and the 
world. The period from the end of the millennium to the end 
of the world—about four hundred years of which has already 
elapsed—is dismissed in a few lines, as a period in which the 
Church will be attacked on all sides. To this period doubtless 
belong the seven thunders, which the Seer was ordered to seal 
up and “ write them not” (R. x. 4). But we have in the predic- 
tions regarding the last three ages of the Church, Sardis, 


376 THE REVELATION 


Philadelphia, and Laodicea, a good deal of information as to 
the state of the Church and the world in our own day, and in 
the last days. 

All the dramatis persone of the Book are now disposed of, 
except the “ woman clothed with the sun” at R. xii. 1, who is 
again referred to at R. xix. 7, 8 as the wife of the Lamb, clothed 
with “fine linen glittering white.” She reappears in the New 
Jerusalem, and is identified by the Seer’s Angelic guide, at 
R. xxi. 9, where She is called “the bride, the wife of the 
Lamb.” 


PART VII 
THE NEW JERUSALEM 


WE now come to the rewards of the just, symbolised in a 
description of heaven called the New Jerusalem. ‘“‘ Eye hath 
not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart 
of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love 
him” (xz Cor. ii. 9; Isa. lxiv. 4). It is impossible to symbolise 
the unknown and the unknowable. The Seer therefore draws 
a picture of the Church in bliss, into which he weaves the 
fulfilment of promises made to the martyrs in earlier parts of 
the Book, many of which are in the O.T. His picture of 
heaven is not material. It is the happy union of the Church 
with God—* the Kingdom of Heaven.” The material note in 
it is pure symbolism and unavoidable. 


CHAPTER XxXI 


Ν ἊΨ > Ν Ν Ν A / ε Ν 
1. Καὶ εἶδον οὐρανὸν καινὸν καὶ γῆν καινήν, ὁ γὰρ 
πρῶτος οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ πρώτη γῆ ἀπῆλθον, καὶ ἡ θάλασσα 
οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι. 


1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and 
the first earth was gone, and the sea is now no more. 


(S.= ἀπῆλθαν.) 

Heaven and earth mean the visible universe. The special 
reference to “the sea” here is taken, therefore, to refer to the 
inhabitants of the earth—the sea of life. The physical world 
and animal life are no more. 

There is a reference to this “new heaven and a new earth” 
in Isa. Ixv. 17 and lxvi. 22, and 2 Pet. iii. 13. The first 
heaven and the first earth ‘fled away, and there was no place 
found for them” (R. xx. 11). 

“A new heaven and a new earth” are required to provide a 
stage for what follows. 

377 


378 THE REVELATION 


Ν > 
2. Kat τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἁγίαν Ἰερουσαλὴμ καινὴν εἶδον 
καταβαίνουσαν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἡτοιμασμένην 
ε 4 nw nw 
ὡς νύμφην κεκοσμημένην τῷ ἀνδρὶ αυτῆς. 


2. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of 
heaven, from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 


The Vulgate and Douay Bibles have “ And I, John.” 

This takes us back to Chapter XIX., where, after the fall of 
Rome, we are told ‘‘the marriage of the Lamb is come,” and 
his wife hath prepared herself (R. xix. 7). The holy city, the 
New Jerusalem, “ prepared as a bride” for her husband, is the 
Church “Triumphant.” She comes down out of heaven, 
where we have had glimpses of her in the visions of the throne 
of God. . 

This new vision carries out the promises to the Seven 
Churches. “And I will write upon him the name of my God, 
and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which 
cometh down out of heaven” (R. iii. 12). The saints of God 
form the New Jerusalem. It is a living body. The picture 
drawn by the Seer of the. existence of the martyrs in heaven 
at R. vii. ff. is kept well in view here, and repeatedly referred to. 


3. Kat ἥκουσα φωνῆς μεγάλης ἐκ Tod θρόνου λεγούσης, 
Ἰδοὺ ἡ σκηνὴ τοὺ Θεοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ σκενώσει 
μετ᾽ αὐτῶν, καὶ αὐτοὶ λαοὶ αὐτοῦ ἔσονται, καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς 
μετ᾽ αὐτῶν ἔσται, αὐτῶν Θεός. 

3. And I heard a great voice from the throne saying, Behold the taber- 


nacle of God with men ; and he will dwell with them ; and they shall be 
his people ; and God himself with them shall be their God. 


The great voice from the throne we have taken to be the 
voice of God. ‘H σκηνὴ, the tent, translated ‘‘ the tabernacle,” 
takes us back to the early history of the Jews, when the ark 
reposed in a tent. At R. xv. 5,0 ναὸς τῆς σκηνῆς, the taber- 
nacle of the temple was opened. And at R. vil. 15 we have 
the reference to the tabernacle with which the above connects. 
There an angel explains that the martyrs are before the throne 
of God and serve Him day and night, ἐν τῷ ναῷ αὐτοῦ, in His 
tabernacle. But there is no real σκηνὴ there, ‘for the Lord God 
Almighty is the temple thereof and the Lamb” (R. xxi. 22), 
showing that we have to deal with a living New Jerusalem, 
“the bride.” 

Prophecies of the O.T. are in view also. “I will walk 
among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my 
people” (Ley. xxvi. 12). See also Jer. xxiv. 7. “And my 


THE NEW JERUSALEM 379 


tabernacle shall be with them, and I will be their God, and 
they shall be my people” (Ezech. xxxvii. 27). 


4. Καὶ ἐξαλείψει ὁ ὃ Θεὸς πᾶν δάκρυον ἀ ἀπὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν : 
αὐτῶν, καὶ ὃ θάνατος οὐκ ἔσται. ἔτι οὔτε πένθος οὔτε κραυγὴ 
οὔτε πὸνος, οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι, ὅτι τὰ πρῶτα ἀπῆλθεν. 


4. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and death shall be 
no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the 
former things are passed away. 


(3. -- ἐξαλείψει πᾶν δάκρυον ἐκ τῶν ; also ἀπῆλθαν.) 

The Seer follows the O.T. prophets who dwelt on the 
negative side in their descriptions of heaven. He treats the 
New Jerusalem as the company of the saints. No more tears, 
or death, or mourning, or crying, or πόνος, “pain,” in the 
Church triumphant, because these mp@ta—“ first things,” have 
passed away with “the first heaven and the first earth,” 
ἡ πρώτη γῆ ἀπῆλθον (R. xxi. 1). They have passed away with 
the material world. 

“The Lord God shall wipe away tears from every face” 
(Isa. xxv. 8). “Sorrow and mourning shall flee away ” (Isa. 
li. 11). The particular reference is to R. vii. 17, “ And God 
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” 

Πόνος is translated “ pain” at R. xvi. 10, 11; here “ sorrow.’ 
It means the pain of toil. Vg. Neque dolor. 


ων an 
5: Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ καθήμενος ἐπὶ τῷ θρόνῳ, Ἰδοὺ καινὰ 
ποιῶ πάντα, καὶ λέγει μοι, Τράψον, ὅτι οὗτοι οἱ λόγοι πιστοὶ 
καὶ ἀληθινοί εἰσιν. 


5. And he who sat on the throne said, Behold I make all things new. 
And he said to me, Write, for these words are most faithful and true. 


(S. omits μοι.) 

For “ He who sat on the throne,” see the visions of the 
throne, R. iv. 2, 9, v. I, 7, 13, Vi. 16, vil. 10, 15, Xix. 4, XX. II, 12. 
It is the voice of God. The proclamation is the corollary of— 
“The first things are passed away "--- All things are new.” 
The wording recalls Isa. xliii. 19 and 2 Cor. v. 17. 

** He said to me, Write, for these words are most faithful and 
true.” That is the reason for writing these things down and 
giving them to the world. The command to “ Write” would 
seem to show that the Seer was not writing at the time. It is 
an injunctionto him to put “these words” in his Book. 

“Faithful and true” are the attributes of the Lamb, “ The 
Amen, the faithful and true Witness” (R.iii.14). The promise 


380 THE REVELATION 


of the Faithful and True to Laodicea, was, “To him that shall 
overcome I will grant to sit with me in my throne” (R. ili. 21). 
See also R. xix. 11. 

6. Καὶ εἶπέν pou, Γέγοναν, éyw ἐιμι τὸ ἄλφα καὶ τὸ ὦ, 
ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος, ἐγὼ τῷ διψῶντι δώσω ἐκ τῆς πηγῆς τοῦ 
ὕδατος τῆς ζωῆς δωρεάν. 


3 


6. And he said to me, It is done, I am alpha and omega, the beginning 
and the end. To him that thirsteth I will give of the fountains of the 
water of life freely. 


(S. omits εἰμι.) 

What is done? Every prophecy contained in this Revela- 
tion is shown as accomplished. “1 am Alpha and Omega, the 
beginning and the end, saith the Lord God... the Almighty” 
(R. i. 8). The Lord God Almighty is the speaker. He 
promised the downfall of Rome. ‘ And when the seventh 
angel poured out his vial into the air, a great voice came 
out of the temple, from the throne, saying: It is done”’ 
(R. xvi. 17). The martyrs were promised that they should 
thirst no more, and that the Lamb should “lead them to the 
fountains of the waters of life’ (R. vii. 16, 17). That also is 
done. Punishments threatened and rewards promised are 
shown as fulfilled. S. John mentions the “fountain of water” 
in his Gospel, where our Lord says to the Samaritan woman 
who gave Him a drink: “ But the water that I shall give him, 
shall become in him a fountain of. water, springing up into 
everlasting life” (iv. 14). The water of life “gratis” is men- 
tioned again in the next chapter (R. xxii. 17). 


Ὁ νικῶν κληρονομήσει ταῦτα. καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτῷ Θεὸ 
Ἦν ὅτις μα ἽΡ ΜΗ Η B ‘ ei 
Kal αὐτὸς ἔσται μοι υἱός. 


7. He that shall overcome shall possess these things, and I will be his 
God, and he shall be my son. 


Here the situation is changed from heaven back again to the 
earth of the first century. Promises and threats are again 
renewed. ‘He that shall overcome” connects with the 
promises made to “ ὁ νικῶν ᾿ at the end of the letters to the 
Seven Churches of Asia (see R. ii. 7, notes). The martyrs are 
promised that they shall have the rewards of heaven, as por- 
trayed at R. vii. 15, 16, 17, “ And I will be his God,’’ seems to 
look back more particularly to the promises to Philadelphia 
(R. iii. 12). ‘‘ And he shall be my son”’ may refer to Thyatira. 
“41 will give him the morning star” (R. 11. 28.) But see 
1. Jhn. iii. 1, 2. 


THE NEW JERUSALEM 381 


8. Tots δὲ δειλοῖς καὶ ἀπίστοις καὶ ἐβδελυγμένοις καὶ 
φονεῦσιν καὶ πόρνοις καὶ φαρμακοῖς καὶ εἰδωλολάτραις καὶ 
πᾶσιν τοῖς ψευδέσιν τὸ μέρος αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ λίμνῃ τῇ καιομένῃ 
πυρὶ καὶ θείῳ, ὅ ἐστιν ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερος. 


8. But to the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, 
and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their portion 
shall be in the pool burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second 
death. 


(S.= φονεῦσι and πᾶσι.) 

Again it is explained, as at R. xx. 14, that the pool of fire 
and brimstone is the second death. At the head of those who 
will go into the pool are the fearful, the cowards, who are 
ashamed of their religion, and who abandon it through fear, of 
whom it has been written, that “ He that shall deny me before 
men, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven” 
(Matt. x. 33). This was calculated to brace the nerves of the 
Christians exposed to the fury of Nero’s persecution, to help 
them to suffer and to die. 

The “unbelieving” has reference to those who do not believe 
in the promises and threats of the “ most faithful and true’”’ 
(R. xxi. 5). They sacrifice to Cesar, and fall into the category 
of those mentioned at R. ix. 20, 21, “‘idolaters,” ‘‘ murderers,”’ 
“sorcerers,” and ‘‘fornicators.”’ As for ‘‘murderers’”’ the blood 
of the martyrs cried to heaven for vengeance against them. 
“Liars” are false spiritual guides of all sorts, pagan and others. 
This warning is repeated at R. xxii. 15. All men are included in 
this sentence, but its special application to Czsar worshippers 
is shown by the limitation of the sins named to those connected 
with Cesar worship. For βδέλυγμα, see R. xvii. 4, notes. 


9: Kal ἦλθεν εἷς ἐκ τῶν ἐπτὰ ἀγγέλων τῶν ἐχόντων τὰς 
ἐπτὰ φιάλας τὰς γεμούσας τῶν ἑπτὰ πληγῶν τῶν ἐσχάτων, 
καὶ ἐλάλησεν μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ λέγων, Δεῦρο, δείξω σοι τὴν νύμφην 
τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ ἀρνίου. 

9. And there came one of the seven angels who had the vials full of the 


seven last plagues, and spoke with me, saying, Come, I will show thee the 
bride, the wife of the Lamb. 


(8. -- τῶν γεμόντων.) 

This angel is introduced with the same formula of words 
as the angel of R. xvii. 1. He is therefore the same angel as 
the Seer distinguishes between one angel and another. At 
R. xix. 10 this angel said, “‘ I am thy fellow servant and of thy 


382 THE REVELATION 


brethren who have the testimony of Jesus.” He repeats at 
R. xxii. 9, “I am thy fellow servant and of thy brethren the 
prophets.” The Seer takes him as a heavenly guide, following 
the manner of the prophet Ezechiel (xl. 1, 2), whose prophecy 
he has in view. The bride is now “τὴν yuvaixd,” “the wife” 
of the Lamb. 


‘ 5 ’ ’ 5 ’ yee, 3, , Ν 
10. Καὶ ἀπήνεγκέν με ἐν πνεύματι ἐπὶ ὄρος μέγα καὶ 
ε ’ Ν / Ἀ ’ Ἀ ε / > Ν 
ὑψηλόν καὶ ἔδειξέν μοι τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἁγίαν, Ἱερουσαλὴμ, 
καταβαίνουσαν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ. 


ro. And he took me up in spirit to a great and high mountain, and he 
showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 


S. John experiences another exaltation of the spirit. So 
Ezechiel was taken in spirit to “‘a very high mountain” to wit- 
ness the vision of a new temple (xl. 1, 2). Many concrete items 
are taken from Ezechiel to illustrate the meaning of “ the holy 
city,” but all the time S. John lets us see that it is a living 
city, and not a material one. Much has been written on the 
significance of its stones, viewed as symbols, but we cannot 
expect to understand heaven on this side of the grave. 


» Ἁ / “ nw ε Ν 5 “ 
11. Ἔχουσαν τὴν δόξαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ φωστὴρ ἀυτῆς 
᾿Ψ ’ ’ ε ’ 77 ’ 
ὅμοιος λίθῳ τιμιωτάτῳ, ὡς λίθῳ ἰάσπιδι κρυσταλλίζοντι. 
11. Having the glory of God, and the light thereof was like to a precious 
stone, as to the jasper stone, even as crystal. 


The holy city, the Church Triumphant, shines with the glory 
of God, like the tabernacle, “ And the glory of the Lord filled 
it” (Exod. xl. 32). It is compared to a jasper crystal glowing 
with absorbed light. ‘‘God is Light” (Jhn. 1. 4, 8, 9, viii. 12, 
xii. 46). Dr. Swete calls attention to the difference between 
φῶς, “light,” and dwornp. “A φωστήρ is something in which 
light is absorbed and thence radiated” (Benson, of. cit., p. 284). 
The saints are properly φωστῆρες, see Dan. xii. 3, LXX. 


12. Ἔχουσα τεῖχος μέγα καὶ ὑψηλόν, ἔχουσα πυλῶνας 
δώδεκα, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς πυλῶσιν ἀγγέλους δώδεκα, καὶ 
ὀνόματα ἐπιγεγραμμένα ἅ ἐστιν τῶν δώδεκα φυλῶν υἱῶν 
Ἰσραήλ. 

12. And it had a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and in the 


gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of 
the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. 


In deference perhaps to the traditional Hebrew concepts of 
the New Jerusalem, there is a touch of materialism blended with 


THE NEW JERUSALEM 383 


the description of the mystic body, the Bride. “It had a wall 
great and high.” The height of the wall is stated at verser7. But 
we must take the wall in connection with the words of Zacharias, 
whose writings are in the mind of the Seer, ‘‘ And I will be to 
it, saith the Lord, a wall of fire round about, and I will be ἴῃ. 
glory in the midst thereof” (Zach. ii. 5). A wall of some kind 
is the necessary complement of gates. The Seer has to intro- 
duce the gates of the city of Ezechiel, whose heavenly city had 
twelve gates, three on each side, according to the names of the 
tribes of Iara (xlvili. 31-34). ‘‘ And in the gates twelve angels,” 
perhaps ‘“‘ to keep the way of the tree of life,” as in Gen. ili. 24. 
The tree of life is also in this paradise of S. John (R. xxii. 2). 


13. ᾿Απὸ ἀνατολῆς πυλῶνες τρεῖς, καὶ ἀπὸ βορρᾶ πυλῶνες 
τρεῖς, καὶ ἀπὸ νότου πυλῶνες τρεῖς, καὶ ἀπὸ δυσμῶν. 
πυλῶνες τρεῖς. , 


13. On the east, three gates ; and on the north, three gates ; and on the 
south, three gates ; and on the west, three gates. 


Ezechiel apportions the tribes of Israel to the gates as 
follows: on the North, Ruben, Juda and Levi; on the East, 
Joseph, Benjamin and Dan; on the South, Simeon, Issachar, 
and Zabulon; on the West, Gad, Aser, and Nephthali (xlviii. 31). 
When S. John wrote, in the year 67, the heavenly city was pre- 
ponderatingly Hebrew. Although the Seer foresaw the Gentiles 
walking in it (R. xxi. 24), the Hebrews were in possession. He 
has in mind the twelve tribes who were sealed at R. vii. 4-8, 
144,000 of each, where Dan is replaced by Manasses. 


14. Kai τὸ τεῖχος τῆς πόλεως ἔχων θεμελίους δώδεκα, καὶ 
ἐπ᾿ αὐτῶν δώδεκα ὀνόματα τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῦ 
ἀρνίου. 


14. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the 
twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 


Carrying out the same idea of a heaven of saints, the founda- 
tions of the walls of the heavenly city are represented as the 
twelve Apostles. The Church was founded by the twelve 
Apostles. The idea was familiar to the Apostles themselves. 
St. Paul says, “ Built upon the foundation of the Apostles and 

rophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone "ἢ 
Eph. ii. 20). In the vision of the throne of God (R. iv. 4), “round 
about the throne were four-and-twenty seats, and upon the 
seats four-and-twenty ancients sitting.” In this vision the 
Apostles are symbolised as the stones of the holy city. 


484 THE REVELATION 


There is no anachronism in S. John describing himself as one 
of the foundation stones of ‘the holy city.” It is a prophecy. 
When the New Jerusalem descends from God, he will be there. 
So “the woman ’’—the Church, at R. xii. 1, has a crown of 
twelve stars. 


15. Καὶ ὁ λαλῶν μετ᾽ ἀμοῦ εἶχεν μέτρον κάλαμον χρυσοῦν, 
ἵνα μετρήση τὴν πόλιν καὶ τοὺς πυλῶνας αὐτῆς καὶ τὸ τεῖχος 
7, A 
αὑτῆς. 
15. And he that spoke with me had a measure, a golden reed, to measure 
the city and the gates thereof, and the wall. 


The angel of the vials who spoke with S. John had a 
measuring rod, ‘‘a golden reed, to measure the city” and its 
walls. The same figure was seen by Zacharias (ii. 1, 2) and by 
Ezechiel (xl. 3). It is the natural prelude to a series of 
measurements which the Seer wishes to introduce. 


16. Kat ἡ πόλις τετράγωνος κεῖται, Kal TO μῆκος αὐτῆς 
ὅσον καὶ τὸ πλάτος, καὶ ἐμέτρησεν τὴν πόλιν τῷ καλάμῳ 
ἐπὶ σταδίων δώδεκα χιλιάδων τὸ μῆκος καὶ τὸ πλάτος καὶ 
τὸ ὕψος αὐτῆς ἴσα ἐστίν. 

16. And the city lieth in a four square ; and the length thereof is as great 
as the breadth ; and he measured the city with the golden reed for twelve 


thousand furlongs, and the length and the height and the breadth thereof 
are equal. 


The city lay four square to the points of the compass: 
each side measuring 1,500 miles. The height of it was also 
1,500 miles. Hence it formed a cube. The tetragon had 
a sacred symbolic significance to the Jews. The altar of 
incense should be “four square” (Exod. xxx. 2), the altar 
of burnt offerings should be “ four square” (Exod. xxvii. 1), the 
threshold of Ezechiel’s temple should be “four square,” and 
the Ariel “four square” (Ezech. xli. 21, xliii. 16). The cube 
was held by the ancients to be a symbol of solidity and strength. 
The Seer gives the New Jerusalem a superficial area of 
2,250,000 square miles. 

All Europe, exclusive of Russia, covers an area of not much 
more than 2,000,000 square miles. It may be supposed that the 
twelve tribes, 144,000 each, of R. vii. 4-8, are in view. They 
would number 1,72,8000; and the great multitude which no 
man could number, of all nations and tribes and peoples and 
tongues, which stand “ before the throne in sight of the Lamb” 
(R. vii. 9 f.) 


THE NEW JERUSALEM 385 


17. Kat ἐμέτρησεν τὸ ῥόδα αὐτῆς ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα 
τεσσάρων πηχῶν, μέτρον ἀνθρώπου, ὅ ἐστιν ἀγγέλου. 


17. And he measured the wall thereof a hundred and forty-four cubits, 
the measure of a man, which is of an angel. 


The repetition of the number 144 here shows that the twelve 
tribes are kept in mind. One hundred and forty-four cubits, 
equal to 204 feet, is a grand conception, but not beyond the 
region of facts, since historians say that the walls of ancient 
Babylon were still higher. Herodotus says that its walls were 
fifty cubits broad and two hundred high (i. 178). It is possible 
that S. John may have seen the ruins of Babylon when travelling 
in the country of the Euphrates. It is interesting to note that 
both Nineveh and Babylon were rectangular tetragons. 

A cubit, the ordinary Hebrew unit of measurement, was the 
distance between the elbow and the tip of the middle finger, 
about seventeen or eighteen inches (Hastings, Dict. Bib. iv. 906). 
“The measure of a man, which is of an angel,’’ would seem to 
refer to the fact that the angel declares himself to be S. John’s 
fellow-servant and of the brethren the prophets (R. xxii. 9). 
He is an angel in the appearance of a man. 


ἈΝ ε > 7 “ Ῥ > Lal ¥ Ν ε 
18. Καὶ ἡ ἐνδώμησις τοῦ τείχους αὐτῆς ἴασπις, καὶ ἡ 
πόλις χρυσίον καθαρὸν ὅμοιον ὑάλῳ καθαρῷ. 


18. And the building of the wall thereof was of jasper stone ; but the 
city itself, pure gold, like to clear glass. 


We have had jasper at R. iv. 3 and R. xxi. 11, where see 
notes. It was apparently a crystal. 

Prof. Stuart points out that ἐνδώμησις is used by Josephus to 
signify “‘ built within,” as the mole in the harbour of Czsarea 
(Ant. xv. 9, 6). Dr. Swete says that this is the only other 
instance of the literary use of ἐνδώμησις noted. Another 
example of literary affinity between Josephus and S. John. 

“But the city itself pure gold, like to clear glass,” is a 
reminiscence of the Temple of Jerusalem, which was covered 
with burnished gold, that shone, seen from a distance, like glass 
reflecting the sun’s rays. Josephus says: “ The outward face 
of the temple was covered all over with plates of gold of great 
weight, and at the first rising of the sun reflected back a very 
fiery splendour, and made those who forced themselves to look 
upon it to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done 
at the sun’s own rays” (“ Wars,” v. 5, 6). 


25 


386 THE REVELATION 


19. Kat οἱ θεμέλιοι τοῦ τείχους THs πόλεως παντὶ λίθῳ. 
τιμίῳ κεκοσμημένοι, ὃ θεμέλιος ὁ πρῶτος ἴασπις, ὁ δεύτερος 
σάπφειρος, ὃ τρίτος χαλκηδῶν, ὁ τέταρτος σμάραγδος. 

19. And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all 


manner of precious stones. The first foundation jasper; the second, 
sapphire ; the third, a chalcedony ; the fourth, an emerald. 


(S. omits καὶ.) 

Josephus says that some of the stones of the Temple were 
forty-five cubits in length, five in height, and six in breadth 
(“‘ Wars,” v. 5, 6). He refers to the foundation stones, some of 
the upper courses of which now visible in what is called 
Solomon’s stables, under the Temple area, are of enormous size. 
The twelve foundation-stones had in them the twelve names of 
the twelve Apostles of the Lamb (R. xxi. 14). We find them 
κεκοσμημένοι, “adorned,” or jewelled with precious stones. 
See κεκοσμημένην, R. xxi. 2. These twelve precious stones 
are symbolical of the twelve tribes of Israel. The ephod of 
the High Priest was adorned “ with twelve stones, three in a 
row one way, and four in the other; a sardine, a topaz, and an 
emerald; a carbuncle, a jasper, and a sapphire; an agate, an 
amethyst and a ligure; an onyx, a beryl, and a chrysolite; 
upon every one of which was engraved one of the forementioned 
names of the tribes ’’—the twelve tribes (Josephus, “ Wars,” 
v. 5, 7. See Exod. xxviii. 17). The Seer omits the carbuncle, 
agate, ligure, and onyx, and replaces them by the chalcedony, 
chrysoprasus, jacinth, and sardonyx. Josephus, in the same 
chapter, gives an account of the symbolism of the colours used 
in the Temple. Whether the stones introduced by the Seer 
correspond with a symbolic scheme of colouring is unknown. 
The stones mentioned are not clearly identified at the present 
time. 


20. Ὁ πέμπτος σαρδόνυξ, ὁ ἕκτος σάρδιον, ὁ ἕβδομος 
χρυσόλιθος, 6 ὄγδοος βήρυλλος, 6 ἔνατος τοπάζιον, ὃ δέκατος 
χρυσόπρασος, ὃ ἑνδέκατος ὑάκινθος, ὁ δωδέκατος ἀμέθυστος. 

20. The fifth, sardonyx ; the sixth, sardius ; the seventh, chrysolite ; the 


eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz ; the tenth, a chrysoprasus ; the eleventh, 
a jacinth ; the twelfth, an amethyst. 


The idea of the foundations and bulwarks of the Church 
being laid in precious stones is found in Isaias, where it has 
not a material but a symbolic significance. ‘‘ Behold I will lay 
thy stones in order, and will lay thy foundations with sapphires. 
And I will make thy bulwarks with jasper, and thy gates of 


THE NEW JERUSALEM 387 


graven stones, and all thy borders of desirable stones” 
(liv. 11, 12). 


21. Καὶ οἱ δώδεκα πυλῶνες δώδεκα μαργαρῖται, ἀνὰ εἷς 
ἕκαστος τῶν πυλώνων ἢ ἦν ἐξ € ἑνὸς “μαργαρίτου, καὶ ἡ πλατεῖα 
τῆς πόλεως χρυσίον καθαρὸν ὡς ὕαλος διαυγής. 


21. And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, one to soot and every 
several gate was of one several pearl; and the street of the city was pure 
gold, as it were transparent glass. 


.. Josephus relates that the gates of the Temple were lavishly 
covered with silver and gold, and that the pillars of the cloisters 
“were of one entire stone, each of them, and that stone was 
white marble” (“ Wars,” v., 5, 2). The Seer designs gates 
of enormous radiant pearls, and streets of dazzling burnished 
gold, ‘‘as it were transparent glass.” This purely symbolic 
materialism was necessary to the carrying out of the further 
description of heaven as a place. Men, in general, can only 
think of it localised as a place. It is worthy of remark that 
the Persian Gulf was celebrated for its pearl fisheries. S. John’s 
connection with that locality may have suggested the idea of a 
great pearl. It is a precious stone he often mentions, although 
it is not an O.T. jewel. 


22. Kal ναὸν οὐκ εἶδον ἐν αὐτῇ, ὁ yap κύριος 6 Θεὸς ὁ 
παντοκράτωρ ναὸς αὐτῆς ἐστίν, καὶ τὸ ἀρνίον. 
22. And I saw no temple in it. For the Lord God Almighty is the temple 
thereof, and the Lamb, 


This gets rid of the note of materialism and brings us back 
to the consideration of heaven as the Bride, the wife of the 
Lamb. Notwithstanding the imagery of the Temple, there is 
“‘no temple in it.” ‘‘God Almighty is the temple thereof and 
the Lamb.” The union of God and the Lamb is ever present 
- to 5. John. 


23. Kal ἡ πόλις ov xpetav ἐν τοῦ ἡλίου οὐδὲ τῆς 
σελήνης, ἵ ἵνα φαίνωσιν αὐτῇ ἡ γὰρ ὀξα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐφώτισεν 
αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ λύχνος αὐτῆς τὸ ἀρνίον. 


23. And the city needeth not sun nor moon to shine in it, for the glory 
of God hath enlightened it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof. 


It is not a material city requiring sun or moon, or artificial 
light of any kind. It is illuminated by the glory of God and 


388 THE REVELATION 


the Lamb. (See R. xxi. 11.) Such is the picture drawn by 
Isaias, ‘‘ Thou shalt no more have the sun for thy light by 
day, neither shall the brightness of the moon enlighten thee. 
But the Lord shall be unto thee for an everlasting light, and 
thy God for thy glory” (lx. 19). ‘‘ There shall be no night 
there ” (verse 25). 

“‘ The Lamb is the lamp ”’—o Avyvos—revives the symbolism 
of the λυχνίαν at R. i. 13: “and in the midst of (them) one like 
unto the Son of Man.” 


ἈΝ ’ Ν »Ἤ Ν “A he > A 
24. Καὶ περιπατήσουσιν τὰ ἔθνη διὰ Tov φωτὸς αὐτῆς, 
καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς φέρουσιν τὴν δόξαν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν 
αὐτῶν εἰς αὐτήν. 
24. And the nations shall walk in the light of it; and the kings of the 
earth shall bring their glory and honour into it. 


(S. omits καὶ τὴν τιμὴν.) 

Having justly apportioned the places of honour in the New 
Jerusalem to the prophets, the Apostles, and the twelve tribes 
of Israel, the Seer turns to τὼ ἔθνη, the Gentiles, and the Kings 
of the earth, τῆς γῆς, and foreseeing their share of heaven, 
encourages them also. They shall walk in heaven and bring 
their honour and glory into it. The Prophet Isaias says, 
“And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the 
brightness of thy rising ”’ (Ix. 3). 


25. Kat ot πυλῶνες αὐτῆς οὐ μὴ κλεισθῶσιν ἡμέρας, νὺξ 
γὰρ οὐκ ἔσται ἐκεῖ. 


25. And the gates thereof shall not be shut by day, for there shall be no 
night there. 


The gates of the Temple were shut at the close of day, to 
keep out intruders and night robbers. It took twenty men to 
shut the eastern gate of the inner court of the Temple, which 
was of brass (Jos., “‘ Wars,” vi. 5, 3). But the gates of heaven 
are always open, there is “no night there.” The Prophet Isaias. 
says: ‘And thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not 
be shut day or night, that the strength of the Gentiles may be 
brought to thee, and their kings may be brought” (lx. 11). It 
has been noticed before that S. John was zealous to show forth 
the fulfilment of the prophecies of the O.T. 


THE NEW JERUSALEM 389 


26. Καὶ οἴσουσιν τὴν δόξαν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰς 
αὐτήν. 
26. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 


Here, as at verse 24 above, the Seer encourages the Gentiles. 
When he wrote this the household of God on earth was 
passing into the hands of the Gentiles. The successor of 
S. Peter was a Gentile. 


27. Καὶ οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθῃ εἰς αὐτὴν πᾶν κοινὸν καὶ ποιῶν 
βδέλυγμα καὶ ψεῦδος, εἰ μὴ ol γεγραμμένοι ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ 
τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ ἀρνίου. 

27. There shall not enter it anything defiled, or anyone that worketh Ὁ 


abomination or a lie, but they who are written in the book of life of the 
Lamb. 


But though the Gentiles as a class shall inherit the kingdom, 
no one defiled shall enter: where κοινὸν may mean the eating 
of Bazaar meat which had been offered to idols. See κοινὸν, 
Acts x. 14. Abomination, βδέλυγμα, was one of the charac- 
teristics of idolatrous Rome (see R. xvii. 4, notes). See also 
R. xxi. 8 for the list of those, including “all liars,’ whose 
portion is hell. This caution was needed in the first century 
particularly. For the Book of Life see R. ili. 5, xx. 12, 15; 
notes. 


CHAPTER XxII 


1. Καὶ ἔδειξέν por ποταμὸν ὕδατος ζωῆς λαμπρὸν ὡς 
κρύσταλλον ἐκπορευόμενον ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ 
ἀρνίου. 

1. And he showed me ariver of water of life, clear as crystal, proceed- 
ing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 


“He showed me”’ refers to “the angel” of R. xxi. 9, who 
is still in attendance upon the Seer. The “water of life” we 
have had before. It is one of the heavenly rewards promised 
to the martyrs at R. vii. 17, and again at R. xxi. 6. It is 
referred to in S. John’s Gospel, “ He that believeth in me, as 
the Scripture saith, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living 
waters. Now this he said of the spirit which they should 
receive who believed in him, for as yet the spirit was not given, 
because Jesus was not yet glorified’ (Jhn. vii. 38, 39). The O.T. 
reference is from Cants. iv. 15, Jer. ii. 13, and xvii. 13. In 


390 THE REVELATION 


S. John’s Gospel our Lord says, “ But when the Paraclete- 
cometh, whom I will send you from the Father, the spirit of 
truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall give testimony 
of me” (Jhn. xv. 26). The Seer now sees the river of the water 
of life proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 
The union of God and the Lamb in heaven is marked. See 
also Jhn. iv. 14. 


2. Ἔν μέσῳ τῆς πλατείας αὐτῆς Kal τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἐντεῦθεν 
καὶ ἐκεῖθεν ξύλον ζωῆς ποιοῦν καρποὺς δώδεκα, κατὰ μῆνα 
ἕκαστον ἀποδιδοῦν τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ φύλλα τοῦ 
ξύλου εἰς θεραπείαν τῶν ἐθνῶν. 

2. In the midst of the streets thereof, and on both sides of the river, was 
the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit every month; and 
the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 

The promises made to the martyrs and to the Churches are 
kept in view in this part of the Book. “He that hath an ear 
let him hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches. To him 
that overcometh I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is 
in the paradise of my God” (R. ii. 7). The tree of life is in 
the midst of paradise, in Genesis—“ and take also of the tree of Ὁ 
life, and eat, and live for ever”’ (Gen. 111. 22). 

The Seer has the prophecy of Ezechiel in mind. In 
Ezechiel xlvii. 12, we read: “‘ And by the torrent on the banks 
thereof, on both sides shall grow all trees that bear fruit: 
their leaf shall not fall off, and their fruit shall not fail: 
every month shall they bring forth firstfruits, because the 
waters thereof shall issue out of the sanctuary, and the fruits 
thereof shall be for food, and the leaves thereof for medicine.” 
Here we have the same figures, somewhat modified. All we 
know is that the Lamb is the Tree of Life, and the Bread of 
Life. Bearing twelve fruits probably refers to the twelve tribes 
of Israel. And the mention of the nations again, as at xxi. 24, 
shows how important it was to bring home to those early 
Christians, who were Gentiles by birth, that they had a full 
share in the New Jerusalem. 


Ν ΄“ὉἝ , 5 »» 4 Ν ε ’ ΄-“ 

3. Καὶ πᾶν κατάθεμα οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι, καὶ 6 θρόνος τοῦ 

lal “ “ ” Ν ε la a 

Θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ dpviov ἐν αὐτῇ ἔσται, καὶ ot δοῦλοι αὐτοῦ 
λατρεύσουσιν αὐτῷ. 


. And no curse shall be any more; but the throne of God and of the 
Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him. 


“And no curse shall be any more” refers to the last verse. 
The idea set forth seems to be that the inhabitants of paradise 


THE NEW JERUSALEM 391 


may eat of the fruit of the tree of life without fear of God’s 
curse. God cursed the earth and mankind because Adam 
hearkened to Eve “and did eat of the tree of life” (Gen. ili. 17). 
“ And the throne of God and of the Lamb.” There is no “but” 
in the Greek. We have seen the throne in heaven at R. iv. 2. 
The Lamb is now joined with God in the throne (R. iii. 21). 
“And his servants shall serve him” belongs to the next 
sentence, and refers back to the promises made to the martyrs 
at R. vii. 15, “ Therefore they are before the throne of God, 
and serve him day and night in his temple.” ““Λατρεύσουσιν 
avT®” occurs in both passages. It connotes Divine worship. 


A. ae Ξ , > “ Ν , » 9 al 

4. Kat οψονται τὸ πρόσωπον αὑτοῦ, καὶ TO ονομα αὕτου 
ἐπὶ τῶν μετώπων αὐτῶν. 

4. And they shall see his face ; and his name shall be on their foreheads. 


“And they shall see His face,” as they stand before the throne 
and serve God (see R. vii. 9, 15). “His name shall be on 
their foreheads” is the fulfilment of the promise made to the 
Church of Philadelphia at R. iii. 12. We are reminded that 
the Beatific vision of God is the supernatural end of man. 


Ν Ν ¥ A » ,ὔ 
5. Καὶ νὺξ οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι, καὶ οὐκ ἔχουσιν χρείαν φωτὸς 
ν “ > 
λύχνου καὶ φωτὸς ἡλίου, ὅτι κύριος ὁ Θεὸς φωτιεῖ ἐπ 
αὐτύος, καὶ βασιλεύσουσιν εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰῶνων. 


. 
5. And night shall be no more; and they shall not need the light of a 
lamp, nor the light of the sun ; for the Lord God shall enlighten them, and 
they shall reign for ever and ever. 


(S= φως ἡλίου, φωτίσει ἐπ᾽). 

In this passage the Seer repeats and emphasises the spiritual 
characteristics of heaven, displayed at R. xxi. 23-25, to show 
that there is no material heaven. ‘‘And they shall reign,” 
βασιλεύσουσιν, “for ever and ever” is contrasted with the 
martyrs’ reign with Christ for a thousand years at R. xx. 4. 
Satan was cast into the pit at R. xx. 9; thereafter the reign 
of happiness in heaven is without limit, eternal happiness. The 
description of heaven ends here, and the peroration, as it were, 
begins in the next verse. This description of heaven refers to 
“the bride, the wife of the Lamb” (R. xxi. 9), the woman of 
R. xii. 1, who “appeared a great wonder in heaven,” the wife 
of the Lamb prepared by suffering (R. xix. 7). She, the last 
of the dramatis persone of the Book, unaccounted for, appears 
in this final scene, as the “holy city Jerusalem” (R. xxi. 10). 


392 THE REVELATION 


EPILOGUE 


Ν 
6. Καὶ εἶπεν μοι Οὗτοι οἱ λόγοι πιστοὶ καὶ ἀληθινοί, καὶ 
ε ‘ a “ lal 
ὃ κύριος ὃ Θεὸς τῶν πνευμάτων τῶν προφητῶν ἀπέστειλεν 
τὸν ἄγγελον αὐτοῦ δεῖξαι τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ ἃ δεῖ γενέσθαι 
ἐν τάχει. 
6. And he said to me, These words are most faithful and true. And the 


Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show his servants 
the things which must be done shortly. 


Here begins a recapitulation of what may be deemed the most 
important points in the Book. 

‘*These words are most faithful and true” refers to the 
whole book, but especially to the rewards of heaven promised 
at R. xxi. 5. ‘‘The Lord God of the spirit of the prophets 
sent his angel to show his servants” corresponds with, and 
signified, ‘sending by his angel to his servant John” (R. i. 1). 
This angel is the same who has been and still is in attendance 
on the Seer. At R. xvii. 1 this angel said, “ Come, I will show 
thee the condemnation of the great harlot,” and at R. xxi. 9 
he said, ‘‘ Come and I will show thee the bride, the wife of the 
Lamb.” And when the Seer prostrated himself before him, he 
said, “ Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of 
prophecy.” We are being led up to a second pronouncement 
of the angel, viz. ‘‘ I am thy fellow-servant and of thy brethren 
the prophets and of them who keep the words of the prophecy 
of this book.” Hence, “the Lord God of the spirit of, the 
prophets.” The Book is a prophecy in the sense of a predic- 
tion; the Seer is amongst the prophets. 

“ΤῸ show his servants,” taken from R. i. 1, is to show a 
definite class. ; 

“A δεῖ γενέσθαι ἐν τάχει is translated at R. i. 1 “the things 
which must shortly come to pass,” and here “the things which 
must be done quickly.” We know now what the things referred 
to are, viz., the fall of Jerusalem, the ten persecutions, and the 
fallof Rome. ‘Which must shortly come to pass” corresponds 
best with the Greek and with the facts. 


7. Kat ἰδοὺ ἔρχομαι ταχύ, μακάριος ὁ τηρῶν τοὺς λόγους 
τῆς προφητείας τοῦ βιβλίου τούτου. 


7. And behold I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of 
the prophecy of this book. 


This admonition refers back to R. i. 3, “the time is at 
hand.” It is repeated in verses 12 and 20 following. It refers 


EPILOGUE 393 


apparently to the coming of the Kingdom of Christ, which was 
at hand when this Book was written. In the messages to two 
of the Churches of the future, Philadelphia and Laodicea, 
similar warnings occur, but they have a distinct eschatological 
value, for they are addressed to the last ages of the Church. It © 
is true that the whole Book including this last chapter is sent 
to the angels of the Churches, even to the present age. But 
_ the appeal of the Book seems to be chiefly to the first century, 
with its parousial views. The “Kingdom” was “Christianity,” 
and the Kingdom quickly came. On the other hand, ἔρχομαι 
takes us back to R. i. 7, “Behold he cometh with the clouds,” 
and reminds us that we are in or about the last age of the 
Church. 

*‘ Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this 
Book” is a special blessing to those who bear in mind its 
teaching. This blessing would seem to reach beyond the first 
century, to the students of Revelation of our own times. 


8. Κἀγὼ Ἰωάννης ὃ ἀκούων καὶ βλέπων ταῦτα, καὶ ὅτε 
» ὑὴῇ Ἀ » » »» “~ » “ 
ἤκουσα καὶ ἔβλεψα, ἔπεσα προσκυνῆσαι ἔμπροσθεν τῶν 
ποδῶν τοῦ αγγέλου τοῦ δεικνύοντος μοι ταῦτα. 


8. And I John who had heard and seen these things. And after I had 
heard and seen, I fell down to adore before the feet of the angel, who 
showed me these things. 


“And I, John,” takes us back to the beginning of the Book, 
and is a confirmation of what is there stated as to the writer of 
the Book. ‘‘ His servant John” (R. 1. 1), “ John to the Seven 
Churches” (R. i. 4), “1, John, your brother” (R.i. 9). Noone 
but the Apostle John could write with such assurance. 

He fell down at the feet of the angel to do homage to 
him. “Προσκυνῆσαι," has that significance. It does not mean 
to adore. Adore is not in the Greek. S. John marks the 
difference between Jatria, “adoration, and mpocxivéw “to 
prostrate oneself before a person in token of homage.” He 
used /atria at R. vii. 15, where there is question of the martyrs 
serving God—«cal λατρεύουσιν aité@—and again at R. xxii. 3, 
“‘and his servants shall serve him”—Aatpevoovow αὐτῷ. He 
knew the angel to be “his fellow servant, and of thy brethren 
who have the testimony of Jesus” (R. xix. 10). But Eastern 
customs had such a hold on him that he could not refrain from 
saluting his former leader in the usual reverential way. ‘“ King 
Nebuchadnesor fell on his face and worshipped Daniel” 
(Dan. ii, 46). Abdias ‘‘ fell on his face and said, Art thou 
my lord Elias?’ (3 Kings xviii. 7). Cornelius the Centurion, 


294 THE REVELATION 


when he met S. Peter, fell at his feet and worshipped him 
(προσεκύνησεν). “But Peter lifted him up saying, Arise, I 
myself also am a man” (Acts x. 25-26). It is evident from 
S. Peter’s remark that the Messianic Jews of the first century 
objected to the very prevalent custom of saluting great men by 
worshipful prostration. 


A , “ / ’ ’ ’ | ἢ Ν “A 
9. Kai λέγει μοι Ὅρα μή" σύνδουλός σού εἰμὶ καὶ τῶν 
ἀδελφῶν σου τῶν προφητῶν καὶ τῶν τηρούντων τοὺς λόγους 
τοῦ βιβλίου τούτου, τῷ Θεῷ προσκύνησον. 
9. And he said to me, See thou do it not; for I am thy fellow servant, 


and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them who keep the words of the 
prophecy of this book, Adore God. 


This is practically a repetition of the scene enacted at 
R. xix. 10, only the angel further discloses his identity. ‘ Of 
thy brethren the prophets, and of them who keep the words of 
the prophecy of this book.” This throws a light on, “ Blessed 
is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this Book.” 
See R. i. 3 and xxii. 18. But the pith of the instruction in 
this incident is in its last words, ‘‘ Adore God.” Worship no 
creature however exalted. Hence it finds a place in the con- 
cluding words of this Book, as a final caution against Cesar 
worship. 


10. Καὶ λέγει por Μὴ odpayions τοὺς λόγους τῆς 
προφητείας τοῦ βιβλίου τούτου, ὁ καιρὸς γὰρ ἐγγύς ἐστιν. 


10. And he saith to me, Seal not the words of the prophecy of this book, 
for the time is at hand. 


The Prophet Isaias is told to ‘‘bind up the testimony, seal 
the law among my disciples” (Isa. viii. 16). So also 
Dan. viii. 26: “ Seal up the vision, because it shall come to 
pass after many days.” It is to be sealed up as referring to a 
future generation. And again, Dan. xii. 4: “ But thou, O 
Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time 
appointed.” The time appointed was in the distant future. 
But here S. John is told not to seal the book, for the time is 
at hand. 

Daniel’s prophecy which related to the destruction of the 
Temple, the fall of Jerusalem, the dispersal of the Jews and the 
final rupture of the Jewish Covenant was in the minds of the 
“ servants of God,” to whom this Book was sent. That prophecy 
transcended in importance every other in the Hebrew outlook 
at the time of writing. Hence the warning “the time is at 


EPILOGUE | 395 


hand,” z.c., the Kingdom is at hand. We cannot suppose that 
in the last chapter of his Revelation the prophet S. John, 
himself, had any illusion as to the time of ‘‘the second coming.” 
The two sentences concerning the fall of the Temple and the 
end of the world, bracketed together in the synoptic Gospels, 
are not found in the Gospel of S. John. 

But this admonition seems to have an eschatological significa- 
tion for us, taking it in connection with verse 12, which follows. 


ε 5 nw 5 ’ὕ » A e ε Ν ε 4 
11. Ὁ ἀδικῶν ἀδικησάτω ἔτι, καὶ ὁ ῥυπαρὸς ῥυπανθήτω 
» Ψ 
ἔτι, καὶ ὁ δίκαιος δικαιοσύνην ποιησάτω ἔτι, καὶ ὁ ἅγιος 
ἁγιασθήτω ἔτι. 


11. He that hurteth, let him hurt still; and he that is filthy, let him be 
filthy still; and he that is just, let him be justified still; and he that is 
holy, let him be sanctified still. 


This sentence renews the teaching of the Book as regards 
the “ patience” of the saints, at R. xiii. 10, where see notes. For 
though the Book had buried Rome prophetically, Rome was 
still alive. Therefore, “He that hurteth” (Nero), “let him 
hurt still,’ and “let him be filthy still.” But let the just and 
the holy persevere, for “" Behold I come quickly, and my reward 
is with me,’’ see next verse. Deliverance is at hand. The 
Churches of Lyons and Vienne, in Gaul, wrote:to the Churches 
of Asia, A.D. 177, that a persecution was then raging, that the 
above Scripture might be fulfilled. 


, 3 Ν » , Ν ε ’ > 3 an 
12. Ἰδοὺ ἔρχομαι ταχύ, Kal ὁ μισθός μου μετ ἐμοῦ, 
ἀποδοῦναι ἑκάστῳ ὡς τὸ ἔργον ἐστὶν αὐτοῦ. 


12. Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me to render to every 
man according to his works. 


“ Behold I come quickly” may be taken here in a restricted 
sense with reference to, “ He that hurteth”—Nero. This was 
written in the year 67, and in July 68 Nero perished. The 
speaker is Jesus Christ (see R. xxii. 16). To render to every 
one according to his works is in accordance with repeated 
statements (R. ii. 23, xx. I2, I3). 

But ὁ μισθός pov, ‘my reward,” connects with R. xi. 18, 
where the day of judgment is in view, “To render a reward 
(τὸν μισθὸν) to thy servants, the prophets, and to the saints, and 
to them that fear thy name, little and great.” This may have 
a special application to our own time. 


396 THE REVELATION 


13. ᾿γὼ τὸ ἄλφα καὶ τὸ ὦ, ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος, ἡ 
53 Ν 
ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος. 


13. I am alpha and omega, the first and the last, the beginning and 
the end. 


“T am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith 
the Lord God” (R. i. 8). At R.i. 17 Christ says, “I am the 
first and the last.” See also R. ii. 8 and xxi. 6. Here the 
marks of the Father and of the Son are blended together. 


’ ε ’ Ἀ Ν 5 “ ν » 
.14. Μακάριοι οἱ πλύνοντες τὰς στολὰς αὐτῶν, Wa ἐσται 
ε lal lal a lal ἴω 
ἡ ἐξουσια αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ τοῖς πυλῶσιν 
εἰσέλθωσιν εἰς τὴν πολίν. 


14. Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have a right to 
the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates unto the city. 


The Vulgate has ‘‘in sanguine Agni.’’ Douay, “in the blood 
of the Lamb.” 

The Revelation was written partly to encourage the martyrs 
to wash their robes in their own blood. It is clearly under- 
stood that they are made white in the blood of the Lamb 
(R. vii. 14). ‘To him that overcometh (τῷ νικῶντι), I will give 
to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of my God” 
(R. ii. 7). Τῷ νικῶντι generally connotes martyrdom. The 
martyrs have therefore a right to the tree of life, which is in 
the New Jerusalem (R. xxii. 2). Consequently, they may “ enter 
in by the gates,” even though each gate be guarded by an angel 
of the twelve tribes of Israel (R. xxi. 12); a final word of 
encouragement to Gentile Christians. All men may overcome 
and enter the gates of heaven otherwise than by martyrdom. 
But one great object of this Book was to encourage the 
martyrs. Τὰς στολὰς in this book always indicates the 
robes of the martyrs. See R. vi. 11, and vii. 9, notes. 


» ε ᾽’ \ ε Ν Ν ε , Ν ε 
15. Ἔξω οἱ κύνες καὶ οἱ φαρμακοὶ καὶ οἱ πόρνοι καὶ ot 
φονεῖς καὶ οἱ εἰδωλολάτραι καὶ πᾶς φιλῶν καὶ ποιῶν ψεῦδος. 


15. Without are dogs, and sorcerers, and the unchaste, and murderers, 
and servers of idols, and everyone that loveth and maketh a lie. 


“Without are dogs.” The common village pariah dog in 
the East is a scavenger, and an unclean animal. The Jews 
despised dogs ; a sentiment frequently reflected in the O.T. 
(Deut. xxiii. 18 ; 4 Kings viii. 13; Psalms xxi. 17; Prov. xxvi. 11). 


EPILOGUE ~ , 397 


The idolatrous sinners enumerated above are classed with dogs! 
They are the same class of sinners who were previously con- 
demned to the pool of fire (R. xxi. 8). Sorcerers, fornicators, 
idolaters and liars, connote Cesar worshippers. They are in 
view down to the last lines of the Book. Ov mépvorc—translated 
“‘fornicators”’ at R. xxi. 8—is here rendered ‘“ the unchaste.” 
Πόρνοι, πορνεία and πορνεύειν are used frequently in this Book 
for the lewd feasts of idolatry. ‘‘ Maketh a lie” applies to 
those who trump up old lies and invent new ones against the 
Church. In S. John’s writings “liars” are the inventors and 
propagators of heresies. 


> Ν A » Ν ¥ , “ 
16. Eyo Ἰησοῦς ἔπεμψα τὸν ἀγγελόν μου μαρτυρῆσαι 
ὑμῖν ταῦτα ἐπὶ ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις. ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ῥίζα καὶ τὸ 
γένος Δαυείδ, ὁ ἀστὴρ ὁ λαμπρὸς ὃ πρωϊνός. 


16. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the 
churches. I am the root and stock of David, the bright and morning star. 


The Speaker reveals Himself as Jesus Christ. He repeats 
R.i.'t and R. xxii. 6. “Sent my angel to testify,” but no 
longer to the “servants,” but ἐπὶ ταῖς ἐκκλησιάις, “for the sake 
of,” “on account of,” ‘the Churches.” This recalls the opening 
words of the Book, “ John to the Seven Churches which are in 
Asia” (R.i. 4). It invests those Churches with an importance 
which the local Churches never had. It looks forward to the 
end of time. ‘‘ These things” include post-millennial events, 
even twentieth century events! This shows that “the Seven 
Churches” represent the secular existence of the Church till 
the end of time. Therefore the Seven Churches must be pro- 
gressive phases of the one true Church. 

“ My angel”’=S. John the Baptist (Marc i. 2). 

“Ἴ am the root and stock of David” recalls R. v. 5 and Isa. 
xi. I, “ And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of 
Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root.’”” Dr. Swete 
holds that yévos here means “offspring,” as in Acts xvii. 28, 
showing that the Speaker is the true Messianic progeny of 
David, as foretold in the O.T. The Book was sent to the 
Hebrew servants of God, who would welcome this Messianic 
stamp. The ‘“‘morning star” is promised to him “ that shall 
overcome and keep my works unto the end” in the Church of 
Thyatira (R. 11. 28). The “morning star” is taken to be a 
symbol of the dawn. Christ’s kingdom, like the star of Beth- 
lehem, ushered in a new day. 


398 THE REVELATION 


17. Kal τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ ἡ νύμφη λέγουσιν Ἔρχου, kat | 
ὁ ἀκούων εἰπάτω, Ἔρχου, καὶ ὁ διψῶν ἐρχέσθω, ὁ θέλων 
λαβέτω ὕδωρ ζωῆς δωρεάν. : 

17. And the spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let 


him say, Come. And he that thirsteth, let him come; and he that will, let 
him take the water of life freely. 


These final words seem to have a wide application. It is the 
call of the Church, the Holy Spirit calls: the “ Bride ”’—the 
Church—calls. “ He that heareth,” that is, “‘ he that hath an 
ear to hear,” who has studied and learned the call of this Book, 
“let him say, Come,” which seems to be a command to exegetes 
to publish their results. The last two Popes, Leo XIII. and 
Pius X., have voiced this appeal, see pp. viil. and 83. 

He that thirsteth, z.c., thirsteth for knowledge, he who is 
anxious for the truth, let him come. Let everyone that 
wishes take the water of life freely. The river of the “ water 
of life clear as crystal proceeding from the throne of God and of 
the Lamb” (R. xxii. 1). It flows through the living Church to 
living men, and the Church offers it freely to all. In heaven 
“they shall not hunger or thirst any more” (R. vii. 16). There- 
fore these invitations are meant for us. 


18. Μαρτυρῶ ἐγὼ παντὶ τῷ ἀκούοντι τοὺς λόγους τῆς 

’ὔ ~ ’ 4 ΝΡ 5 “~ ΟΕ) 3 ’ὔ 

προφητείας τοῦ βιβλίου τούτου ἐάν τις ἐπιθῇ ἐπ᾽ αὐτά, 

ἐπιθήσει ὁ Θεὸς ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν τὰς πληγὰς τὰς γεγραμμένας ἐν 
τῷ βιβλίῳ τούτῳ. 

18. For I testify to every one that heareth the words of the prophecy of 


this book: If any man shall add to these things, God shall add unto him 
the plagues written in this book. 


“For I testify’ corresponds with “1 Jesus” at R. xxii. 16, 
and “He that giveth testimony” at R. xxii. 20. Hence this 
warning comes from Jesus Christ. We have a final declaration 
of the nature of the Book. It is a prophecy, in the sense of 
a prediction. It is “the Revelation of Jesus Christ.” It is 
on that account a most sacred Book. In the Gospel accounts 
of His life on earth our Lord never wrote except on one 
occasion, when the woman was taken in adultery, then ‘‘ bowing 
himself down, (He) wrote with his finger on the ground” 
(Jhn. viii. 6, 8). But He dictated a great part of this Book, 
1.6., the Letters to the Seven Churches, and He speaks to us 
frequently directly from its pages. He foresaw the vast litera- 
ture that would spring up in connection with the Book; how 
it would be twisted and turned to suit the ends and aims 


EPILOGUE 399 


. of polemical controversy. This very remarkable and solemn 
warning is given to all time. Those exegetes who add to the 
text will be punished, as set forth in the seven plagues. He 
‘“‘that heareth ” is put for an exegete or commentator. 


19. Kat ἐάν τις ἀφέλῃ ἀπὸ τῶν λόγων τοῦ βιβλίου τῆς 
προφητείας ταύτης, ἀφελεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τὸ μέρος αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ 
ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς καὶ ἐκ τῆς πόλεως τῆς ἁγίας, τῶν γεγραμ- 
μένων ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τούτῳ. 


19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this 
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of 
the holy city, and from these things which are written in this book. 


Those who take away from the text will be deprived of the 
heavenly rewards described in the Book. The honest exegete, 
who reverently strives to bring out the meaning of the Book, 
may go astray, and yet incur no penalty. He may take confi- 
dence from other passages: ‘“‘ Blessed is he that readeth and 
heareth the words of this prophecy (R. i. 3) ; where ἀναγινώσκων 
points to exegesis. (See also R. xxii. 7, notes.) “And he that 
heareth, let him say, Come.” (R. xxii. 17, where see notes.) 


20. Λέγει 6 μαρτυρῶν ταῦτα, Nal, ἔρχομαι ταχύ. ᾿Αμήν, 
ἔρχου, κύριε Ἰησοῦ. 


20. He that giveth testimony of these things saith, Surely I come quickly. 
Amen. Come Lord Jesus. 


There is running through this Book a note of expectation, of 
something coming. “For the time is at hand” (R.i. 3). It 
may be supposed that this is a reflection of the parousial ideas 
prevalent in the time of St. John. There could be no such 
thought in the minds of those who had read and understood 
this Book. They would know that “the second coming” lay 
at least a thousand years beyond the fall of Rome. 

If we bear in mind the genesis of the Book in the mysterious 
hour, long foretold, when the Roman eagles were gathered to 
the destruction of Jerusalem, if we bear in mind the peculiar 
position of the Hebrew Nazarene Church, the Church of the 
Elect, in relation to the Old Law and the New Kingdom, if 
we bear in mind the prophecy of Daniel and the emotion which 
passing events had excited in the minds of the Nazarenes, we 
can understand the meaning of this expectancy. In the descrip- 
tion of the fall of Jerusalem (Chap. X.) an angel swears ‘‘ by 


400 THE REVELATION 


him that liveth for ever and ever . . . that time shall be πο 
more” (i.¢., that there shall be no further delay), that when 
‘the seventh angel .. . shall begin to sound the trumpet, . . . 
the mystery of God shall be finished, as He has declared by 
His servants the prophets” (R. x. 6,7). And when the seventh 
angel sounded the trumpet, there were great voices in heaven 
saying, “The kingdom of this world is become our Lord’s 
and his Christ’s, and he shall reign for ever and ever. Amen.” 
(R. xi. 15.) The transference of the kingdom of this world from 
the Israelites and the Old Law to Jesus Christ and the Gentiles 
is apparently in view in these last words, “1 come quickly.” 

But side by side with these reflections there runs another. 
train of thought, not conflicting with them, which leads to an 
eschatological conclusion. If we consider that this Book has 
been a mystery to the Church and the world from the end of the 
first till the end of the nineteenth century: if we consider that 
when the mystery was unveiled in our own time, it was found 
that the predictions of the Book had been fulfilled down to 
its last lines: it is reasonable to conclude that its last lines may 
have a special appeal to the twentieth century. ‘“ Behold I 
come quickly” is the warning addressed to the close of the 
Philadelphian age of the Church, in which we live (R. iii. rr). 
It occurs three times in the epilogue of this Book; it may be 
a trumpet-call to the twentieth century. 


21. Ἢ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου Ἴησου Χριστοῦ, μετὰ πάντων 
τῶν ἁγίων, ᾿Αμήν. 
21. The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you all. Amen. 


(S. omits χριστοῦ, πάντων, and Amen.) 

The final blessing of S. John is somewhat in the epistolatory 
style of the Apostles. See Rom. xvi. 24; 1 Cor. xv. 23. But 
he calls down the blessing of Jesus Christ on “all the saints,” 
where τῶν ἁγίων refers to “the camp of the saints,” as last 
seen, at R. xx. 8, surrounded by the forces of Satan. 


INDEX 


ABADDON, 238 

Abercius, 218 

Abomination, the, 114, 253; **abomi- 
nations,” 325, 389 

Abraham, rock of, 208 

ΓΑβυσσος, 232 f., 238, 256, 362, 363, 374 

Accusation, 335, 337 

Accuser, the, 272 

“* Add to,”’ 398 

Adiabene, Queen, 63 

᾿Αδικεῖν, 205, 216 

Adoration (see Narpevelv) ἹΤροσκυνεῖν : 
the ancients, 193, 201 ; angels, 220; 
the Synagogue, 173; devils, idols, 
243; Temple, 250, 263; dragon and 
Beast, 281, 289, 298; God, 296, 
394; all nations, 307, 348; fellow- 
servant, 351, 393; not, 364; angel, 


Adiitery, 1 

uitery, 159 

fBilia, 57 

Afflict, 314 

"Αγίοι, 49, 91, 198, 224, 225, 264, 283, 
285, 314, 326, 344, 346, 350, 370, 400 

Agrippina, 61 

Air, 233, 321 

Alaric, 78, 316, 332, 333 

Alani, 78, 80, 331, 358 

Albigenses, 44 

Alcazar, 45 

Alexander, 47 

Alexandria, 7, 88 

Alityrus, 49 

Alive, 136, 165, 359 

Allard, 71 

Allegorisers, 29, 40, 43 

Alleluia, 347, 348, 349 

Almighty, 130, 192, 306, 314; God, 
319, 349, 387 

Alogi, 27, 107, 156 

Alpha, 130, 380 

Altar of sacrifice, 208; golden, 224, 
239; horns of, 239; Temple, 250; 
angel of, 314 

Ambrose, S., 42 

“‘Amen,” 39, 128, 129, 178, 201, 221, 
263, 348, 399, 400 

America, 174 





Amethyst, 386 

*Avaywwoxw, 126, 399 

Ananus, 260 

Ancients, 105, 189, 193, 198, I99, 201 ; 
dramatic use, 201, 220; explain, 
221, 263, 294, 348 

Andreas, 43, 89, 96, 120 

*‘ Angels” of Church, 100; of Apoca- 
lypse, 123, 124, 323, 385, 392, 393; 
397; meaning, 138; ἰσχυρός, 195, 
245, 335, 344, 381; numbers, 199; 
trumpet, 224; dramatic use, 201; 
four, 215, 240; another, 216, 224; 
adore, 220; seven, 224; of pit, 235 ; 
rebel, 269; dragons, 271; thrown 
down, 272; flying, 296; of fire, 
225, 303; plagues, 308; of waters, 
315; having key, 362; twelve, 382; 
measure, 385 ; standing in sun, 356 

Anger, nations, 264; dragon, 276 

᾿Ανοῖξαι, 195, 196, 198, 202 

Antichrist : by S. John, 18 f.; Poly- 
carp, 24; S. Irenzeus, 26, 84; Hip 
politus, 28; medieval, 45, 46, 252 

Antimontanists, 25, 27, 30, 40 

Antioch, 23, 81 

Antipas, 150 f. 

Antoninus Pius, 72, 84 

Apameia, 185 

Apocalypse: Name of book, 85; 
meaning, 123; papyrus Μϑ,, 13, 
119; length, 119; written in Greek, 
13, 120; object, 12, 87; chapters, 
43 I13, 120; copies, 120; text, 121; 
original copies, 14, 15; written at 
Patmos, 13, 130; destination, 14, 
103 ; addressed to servants and 
angels, 12, 13, 123, 392; Christian 
dogmas, 83; difficulties and dan- 
gers, 14, 81, Io09, 124; concealed, 
15, 22; seen, 58; understood at 
Rome and Jerusalem, 15; publi- 
cation, 23; mistaken, 23, 26, 31,95; 
rejection in the Hast, 40; rein- 
stated, 41; Antichrist, 254; a pro- 
phecy, 392, 394 

Apollo, 286 

Apollonius, 7, 25 


401 26 


402 


Apollyon, 238, 279 

Apostasy, 73. 76, 212 

Apostles: preachers, 2; writings, 120; 
meaning of word, 100, 138; ser- 
vants, 123; false, 140; names, 152; 
labours, 2109; martyrs, 273; holy, 
344, 348; Twelve, 383 

Aramaic, 120 

Arethas, 43, 89 

Arians, 81, 106, 150, 339 

Arise, 250 

Ark, the, 265, 310 

Armagedon, 79) 112, 320, 331, 334, 3523 
date, 357, 361 

Armenia, 9, 41, 94 

Armies of heaven, 354; opposed to 
God, 357 

Armoricans, 80, 331, 358 

“Art and Wast,” 313 

Artabanus, 94, 284 

Arts, 345 

Ascend, 370 

Ascension, the, 259, 270 

Asia: Proconsular, 127; map, 102; 
the Gospel, 109; Apocalypse, 133 

Asiarchs, 29, 287, 289 

* As it were”’ (as), 132, 187, 197, 205, 
212, 223, 227, 229, 236, 237, 241, 275, 
306, 312, 318, 320, 344, 353 

Athanasius, 30, 41 

Atheists, 62, 63 

Attila, 79, 243, 313, 316, 332, 333, 358 

Augurs, 319 

Augustine, S., ‘‘ad Parthos,’’ 8; on 
the Apocalypse, 42; Civitas Dei, 
82; on seven, 116; Gog, 370 

Augustus, 48 

Aurelian, 75, 148 

Aurelius, M., 70, 72, 311 

Authorship, 26, 27, 30 ff,, 88, 117, 118, 
123, 125, 127, 130, 133, 155, 192, 249, 
267, 269, 393 

Aya Solouk, 145 


Babylon, 91, 211, 278; great, 297, 298, 
322 ; symbolism, 326; ‘‘ the great,” 
fallen, 335; hold of devils, etc., 
335; mighty, 339; thrown down, 
344; a tetragon, 385 

Balaam, 143, 152 

Balac, 152 

Banishment, S. John’s, 11; Roman, 
13; Dionysius’, 73 

Baptism, 104, 217, 291 

Barcochebas, 56 

Barley, 205 

Barry. Dr., 83 

Bacavifew, 235, 258, 268, 299, 338, 339, 
341, 371 

Basil, 30, 41 

Basora, 8, 318 





THE REVELATION 


Battle, 236, 237; in heaven, 271; 
kings of earth, 319, 331; Satan’s 
last, 368 

Bear, 279 

Bear, to, 140, 141 

Beast, the: Number, 15, 291 ; name, 
15; Irenzeus, 26; in Greek, 39; dis- 
covered, 45; explained by gema- 
tria, 90, 92 f.; ofabyss, 256, 328; kills 
witnesses, 256; from the sea, 278 ff. ; 
adored, 283; image of, 289, 299, 
364; kingdom, ΡΟ mouth, 318; 
supports scarlet woman, 325, 327; 
hariolation, 328; will reappear, 
328; goes to destruction, 329; 
helped by ten kings, 333; at Arma- 
gedon, 357; cast into hell, 359; tor- 
mented, 271 

Beast from earth. See the False 
Prophet 

Beasts, 340 

Beatus, 43 

Bed of sickness, 159 

Bede, Venerable, 8, 43 

Beginning, 130; creation, 178; and 
end, 380, 3 

Beheaded, 364 

** Behind,” 98, 132, 133 

Behold, 128, 147, 173, 177, 183, 378, 379, 
395 

Benary, 92 

Benediction, 193, 200, 221 

Berengaud, 43 

Beryl, 386 

Bewail, 129, 338 

Bibles: Greek, 40; S. Jerome, 42; 
Haydock’s, 121; Coyne’s, 121; 
opinions, 280; copied, 364; Douay, 
121, 332, 370, 396 

Βιβλίον, 133 

Bind, 362 

Birds, unclean, 335, 356, 359 

Bishops, 104, 110, 146, 152, 155 

Bisutun, 94 

Bithynia, 68 

“* Bitter,” 230, 249 

Black Death, 44, 161 

Blasphemy, 91, 146, 281, 282, 290, 307, 
315, 316, 323; names of, 278, 325 

Blessed, 126; are the dead, etc., 300; 
is he, 320, 367; called to the mar- 
riage, 350; keeps the word, 392; 
wash their robes, 396 

“ Blind,” 180 

Blood, cleansing, 128, 222; conquer- 
ing, 272; of the Lamb, 273; wine- 
press, 304; sea of, 227, 312 ; dead, 312 

Blood of martyrs, 208, 210, 396 

Bloodshed, 226, 227, 255, 314; rivers, 
312; to drink, 314; of prophets 
and saints, 346; of servants, 347; 
on garment, 353 


INDEX 


Boanerges, 2 

Bodies, 256 

Bodleian, 369 

Bondsman, 213, 290, 357 

Book, open, 116, 245 ; devoured, 249 ; 
sealed, 114, 194 f.; title, 245; boo 
opened, 373; a prophecy, 392, 394, 


398, 399 
Book of life, 169; of the Lamb, 283, 


328, 373, 375» 389, 399 

Bossuet on prophecies, 3, 45 

Bottomless-pit. See”ABuecos 

‘« Bound,”’ 240 

Bow, 94, 202 

Brandscheid, Dr. F., 121, 372 

Brass, 135, 155, 340 

Breastplates, 237, 241 

Breons, 358 

Brethren, 209, 351, 394 

Bride, pagan, 345; groom, 345; pre- 
pared, 378, 381; says “‘ Come,” 398 

Brimstone, 241, 242, 299, 371 

Brother, 130 

“*Burning,” 135, 229, 230, 332, 338; 
of Rome, 50, 343 

Burgundians, 78, 80, 331, 358 

Burial, 71; Jewish, 49, 257, 261, 357 

Butler, Alban, 8, 71 

Butler, Dom., 75 

Buy, to, 181, 339 


Czesar worship, I0, 12, 47 f., 68, 277, 
281, 283, 286, 289. 291, 368, 381 

Czesars: title, 29; line, 93,329; Czesar- 
ism, 363 

Caius, 23, 27 

Calés, Rev. J., S.J., 286 
alf, ΤΟΙ 

Caligula, 48 

“Called,” 331 

Camp of saints, 82, 370 

Candlesticks, 58, 97 f., 133, 134; sym- 
bolism, 138 f.; removed, 142; re- 
stored, 146; “Two,” 254; taken 
to Carthage, 333 

Canisius, B. P., 166 

Canticles, 198; new, 294; of Moses, 
306; the Lamb, 306 

Carthage, Councils of, 42 

Cassiodorus, 43, 121, 220 

**Cast” into sickness, (59; into hell, 


375 

Catacombs, 49, 71, 142, 146 

Celibacy, 76° 

Cemeteries, 49, 74 

Censers, 224 

Ceolfrid, 121 

Cerinthus, 18; exegete, 23; author, 
27, 30; heretic, 141; millennium, 
361, 365 

Cestius, 12 

Chain, 362 





403 


Chalcedony, 386 
Chalons, battle, 358 
Chapman, Dom., 67, 315 
Chapters, 44, III, 120, 239 
Chariots, 216, 237, 340 
‘** Charity (first),” 141, 157 
Chase. Bishop, 86 
Chastisement, 182 
Cherubims, ΤΟΣ 
Children, 160; child-birth, 268; of 
Israel, 152 
Chiliasm, 23, 30 
Chcenix, 205 
Chorus, the, 116, 198, 202, 221, 263, 
306, 347, 348 : 
Christ, 123, 125, 128, 130; His king- 
dom, 263; power, 272; reign, 364; 
riests, 367; our Lord, goo. See 
esus 
Christianity, Gentile, 23; spread, 47 
Christians: Name, 23; Hebrew, 4; 
a sect, 49; Judzean, 8; in pagan eyes, 
Ἢ 63, 65, 68; under persecution, 
, 87; position, 63 f.; suffer with 
Rome, 154; early views, 366 
Chronology, 17 
Chrysolite, 134, 386 
Chrysoprasus, 386 
Chrysostom, S., 41 
Church, the: Seven ages, 96 f., 100; 
revelation of, 103, 127, 133; all, 160; 
letters, 108, 138, 397; in Asia, Ior ; 
109,127; pride and luxury, 72, 75, 
153, 158, 166; Western, 25, 160; 
sufferings, 147, 213; a woman, 267 
ff.; triumphant, 382, 387; foun- 
ders, 383 
Church buildings, 21, 75, 105 
Cicero, 327 
Cinnamon, 340 
Cities, Gentile, 323 
City, Beloved, 82, 370; Holy, 251, 
378, 382, 383, 385, 399; great, 256, 
322, 339, 341, 343; dominion over 
kings, 334; fell, 262; made ino 
parts, 322; mighty, 339; wall. 386; 
gates, 387, 396; outside, 305 
Civil War, 58 
Clarmontane Codex, 42 
Claudius Ceesar, 41, 48, 49, 89, 124 
Clemens Romanus, 22; Epistle, 66 f., 


71 

Clement of Alexandria : ‘* Who isthe 
rich man?” 15, 88; period, 27; 
reputation, 88; on Nicolaus, 143; 
baptism, 217 

Cletus, Pope, 23 

Clothed, 189, 219; with a cloud, 245; 
sackcloth, 252; the sun, 267; clean 
linen, 308; in purple, 325, 341; fine 
linen, 350, 353 

Cloud, 129, 245, 259, 301, 302 


404 
Codices, 120, 121 
Cold, 179, 180 


Columbus, 164 

Colour symbolism, 386 

**Come,’”? 202, 203, 204, 206 (see 
"EpxecOa); up, 259; Spirit says, 


3 

Come, to, 130, 260, 381, 399 

Coming of Christ, 127, 129, 130, 163, 
176, 183, 399 

Commandments of God, 276, 300 

Commentaries, 120 

Comet of Saints, 198, 224, 225, 
395 

Composition, 117, 137, 215, 223, 249, 
267, 400 

Concordances, 113, 126, 152, 154 f., 
221, 241, 242, 244, 256, 271, 280, 284, 
285, 291, 293, 295, 296, 301, 306, 307, 
308, 312, 317, 319, 322, 326, 329 f., 
338, 342, 347, 348, 352 ἴ., 355, 357, 
359, 362, 366, 379 ἔ., 390, 392 ff. 

Confess, to, I 

Conqueror, the, 196, 202, 207, 352, 356 

Constantine: Antimontanist, 40 ; 
reign, 76; monotheist, 77; Con- 
stantinople, 81 

Constantinople Council, 43; 
Rome, 76, 81, 152; plague, 311 

Continuity, 309, 348 

Corinth, 22, 66, 67 

Corrupters, 264, 347 

Councils: Jerusalem, 6, 143; Laodi- 
cea, 40, 109; Carthage, 42; Con- 
stantinople, 43 ; Niczea, 81; Chalce- 
don, 81; Cicumenic, 81; Trent, 
157, 167 

Court, 251 

Covenant, 148 

Coyne, R., 121 

Cowards, 148, 381 

Craftsmen, 345 

Crassus, 9 

Creator, 247 

Crown of life, 147; victory, 176, 189, 
193; gift of, 202; locusts, 236; of 
stars, 267; golden, 301 

Crown of Tiridates, 9 

Crozier, 162 

Crucifixion, 129, 198, 200 

Crying, 379 

Cry out, 343, 

Cryptograph, 13, 23, 31, 39, 113, 120, 
hn Pia 151, 236; like a parable, 
284 

Crystal, I91, 382; clear, 389 

Cube, 384 

Cubits, 385 

Cup, 322; golden, 325; the harlot’s, 


new 


337 
Curse: Christ, 68; no, 390 
Cypher, the, 13, 23, 92, 113 





THE REVELATION 


Cyprian, S., 28; banishment, 73 
Cyril, 40 


Daniel: Influence on Revelation, 
113; sealed book, 114}; vision, 134; 
“ἘΠ 6 abomination,” 253; prophecy, 


394 

Darkness, 210, 231, 233, 316 

Date of Book, 14, 17, 27 ff., 36, 43, 59; 
higher critics, 83; theory, 86 f.; 
tradition, 89 f., 115, 226 

David, children of, 64; key of, 170; 
root of, 172, 196, 397 

Day, 97; ‘‘ten,”’ 147, 150, 222; last 
days, 185, 306; for the, 240; “days 
I,260,”’ 252, 270; three and a half, 
257, 258; and night, 299, 371, 388; 
great, 215, 319, 352; one, 338 

De Rossi, 71 

Deaconesses, 69 

Dead, 165; ‘‘was dead and liveth,” 
136, 145; rest of, 366; before the 
throne, 373 

“Death,” 136, 147, 148, 160, 206; 
unto death, 147; preferred to life, 
235; a plague, 338; second, 148, 
367, 375, 381; gave up dead, 374; 
cast into hell, 375; no more, 


379 

Deceived. See Πλανᾷ 

Decius, 72, 73, 148, 212 

Defiled, 168, 389 

Deissmann, 290 

Delicacies, 335; lived in, 338 

Demetrius, 141 

Demons, 318 

Denarius, 205 

Dens, 213 

Deny, to, 150 

“ Depths of Satan,” 162 

Desert, 274, 325 

Deserve, 314 

* Design” (one), 331 

Desolate, 343 

Destroy, to, 264 

Devil, the, 147; worship, 243, 269, 
272, 273; spirits, 319, 335, 362; cast 
into hell, 371 

Devour: Book, 249; enemies, 255; by 
fire, 370 

Diadems, 278; many, 353 

Διακονίαν, 157 

Διδαχὴν, 162 

Die, ready to, 167; in the Lord, 300 

Diocletian, 75, 214, 291, 317 

Dion Cassius, 48; on Domitian, 60, 
61 f., 64; on the Ceesars, 72, 93; 
Nero and Tiridates, 53 

Dionysius of Alexandria, 30 ff.; ban- 
ishment, 73; polemic, 88; heat 
plague, 315; blasphemy, 315 

** Divinity,” 200 


INDEX 


“Divorce, 176 

Do it not, 351, 394 

Doctrine, 152, 162 

Dogmatic teaching, 83 

Dogs, 396 

Dominion, 334 

Domitian : Alarm of persecution, 22; 
title, 29; biography, δ πὰ build- 
ings, 62; martyrs, 71, 86; Asia, 148 

Domitilla, 61; cemetery, 71 

**Done, It is,” 321, 380 

Door, open, 74, 172; shut, 172; in 
heaven, 187; knocking at and 
opening, 183 

‘Double ye,”’ 337, 357 

Doxology of God, 192, 193; of the 
Lamb, 200; conjoint, 200, 220; of 
God, 221 

Dragon, the, 269; fought, 271; cast 
to earth, 274, 275; angry, 276; 
throne power, 279; adored, 281; 
spoke as, 285; strength, 289 ; 
mouth, 318, 362 

Drama, vii, vili, 116, 201, 264, 267, 
365, 366, 376; stage, 377, 391 

Drunk, 297, 299, 324; with blood, 
326; wine of wrath, 335 

Dust, 343 

Dwelling with God, 378 


“Ragle flying,” 191, 232; wings, 274 

Ear to hear, 144, 148, 154, 165, 170, 
178, 184 

Earth, Prince of the kings of, 128, 
129; temptation, 175; “ΠΟ man,” 
195; reign over, 199; every crea- 
ture, 200; four parts of, 206, 215, 
368; kings of, 213; hurt not, 216; 
to strike, 255; burnt up, 225, 226; 
woe to, 273; helped the woman, 
275; admiration, 280; non-Chris- 
tians, 281; symbolism, 285 ff. ; 
‘* dwellers,” see Κατοικοῦντας x.7.X. 5 
harvest, 301 ; reaped, 302 ; vineyard, 
303; vials poured, 310; illuminated, 
334; merchants, 335; corrupted, 
347; breadth, 370; fled, 373; new, 
377; gone, 377 

Earthquake, 210, 225, 262, 265, 321 

Eat, to, idol offerings, 143, 158, 152; 
tree of life, 144; flesh, 332, 357 

Ecclesia docens, 157, 211, 276 

Ecstasy, 132 ; exhausting, 136 ; separ- 
ate, 137; incapacitating, 188, 382 

** Rgypt,”’ 256, 311, 312 

Εἰδωλόθυτα, 153, 158 

“« Hlect, the,” 7, 294, 331, 399 

a ee Pope, 86 
ias, 28, 143, 252, 255, 

Emerald, 188, 386 shes 

Empires: Chaldean, Persian, Greek, 
Roman, 90, 245 





| 


405. 


End, the, 130, 176, 380, 396 

᾿Ενδύω, 133 

᾿Ενδώμησις, 385 

Enemies, 259 

England, 171 

Enter heaven, 396 

Epaphroditas, 53, 61, 63 

“‘ Ephesians,” S. Paul to, 108, 144 

Ephesus: Bishops, 9; palatial city, 
Το; ruined and rebuilt, 21; Caesar 
worship, 48; evangelized, 104 f.; 
Letter, 139 f.; merchandise, 340 

Ephod, 386 

Ephrem, Syr., 21, 41 

Epilogue, 392 

Bees: On the Alogi, 27; on 
Thyatira, 41; on Pella, 57; on 
Claudius, 41, 89, 124; on Nicolaus, 
142 

Ἔρχεσθαι, 127, 130 

Eschatology, 82, 179, 183, 185, 254, 
370, 372, 376, 393, 400 

᾿Εσήμανεν, 124, 131 

Esoteric system, 90, 108, 113, 120, 
126, 144, 155, 192, 201, 220, 221, 230, 
237, 240, 242, 244, 249, 256, 271, 274, 
280, 298, 306, 307, 308, 312, 315, 316, 
327, 347; 362 

Eternity, for ever and ever, 128, 136, 
193, 200, 263, 299, 309, 348 ; tor- 
ments, 371; heaven, 391 

Ἔθνος, 163, 198, 219, 251, 257, 283, 296, 
307, 322, 332, 335, 345, 355, 363, 368, 
388, 389, 390 

Εὐχαριστία, 193, 201, 221 

Eumenia, 185 

Euphrates, 8, 78, 240 f., 317 

Eusebius: Election of Simeon, 9; 
Apocalypse, 32 f., 89; history, 40 ; 
Bible, 40; S. Peter, 49; on Irenzeus, 
85; tenth persecution, 75, 213, 214; 
conversion of Constantine, 75; on 
Polycarp, 146, 291; on apostasy, 
212; state of the Church, 214; “πὸ 
abomination,” 253; on Laodicea, 
184; the mark of the Beast, 290; 
his canticle, 307; plagues, 311 

Eutyches, 82, 106 

Evangelists, 192 

Evil men, 140 

Ewald, 92 

Exegesis, 1, 23, 27 f., 43 f., 85, 366, 
369, 399 

Eyes, every, 129, 134, 155; anoint, 
181, 192, 197; as flame, 353; wiped, 
379 


Face, I91; locusts, 236; angel, 245 ; 
serpent, 274; of God, 391 

Fail, to, 141 

Fairbairn, Professor, 286 


406 


Faith, 150, 157, 285; of Jesus, 300 

Faithful, 128, 178, 331, 352, 379, 392 

Fall upon us, 214; fallen, 142, 297 

False Apostles, 140 

False Prophet, the, 285; his occupa- 
tion, 287; Cesar worship, 259; 
mouth, 318; cast down, 359; tor- 
mented, 371 

False prophets, 17, 19, 140 

Father, the, God, 128, 164, 169, 293 

Famine: Jews, 56; symbols, 206; 
Rome, 78, 80, 338 

are Dr. F., 260 
at, 341 

Fearful, 381 

Fear of God, 179, 214; great, 259, 
262; them that, 264; the Lord, 
296, 307; of torments, 339, 348 

Fear not, 136, 147 

Feed, 270 

Feet, 135; like brass, 155; fell at His, 
136; angel, 245; stood upon, 259; 
bear’s, 279 

Felix, 10, 12 

Festus, 10, 12, 105 

Find no more, 341 

Fiddes, Professor, 48 

Fight, to, 153, 352 

Fig-tree, 212 

Filthy, 395 

Fire, 181, 225, 226, 227; flame of, 
134, 155; a symbol, 230, 371; of 
mouth, 241, 242, 255; from heaven, 
288, 370; torment, 299, 303, 381; 
in sea of glass, 306; heat, 314, 332, 


338 

First and Last, the, 136, 145, 396 

First charity, 7,140; begotten of the 
dead, 128; fruits, 295; resurrec- 
tion, 366, 367; works, 141 

Fisher, Ven. J., 369 

Fitzpatrick, T., 13 

Five fallen, 329 

Flavian line, 59 

Flavius Clemens, 61, 67, 71 

Flesh of Kings, etc., 357, 359 

Florus, Gessius, 12 


Flour, 340 

Forehead: Sign, 216, 234, 250, 290, 291, 
793 a name, 326, 391; mark, 
304 


Forgiveness of sins. See Μετανοέω, 
‘to repent.” 

Former things, 379 

Fornication, 152, 158, 244, 295; wine 
of, 297, 298, 324, 325; symbolism, 
326, 335, 338 . 

Found no more, 344, 373; ‘‘not” in 
book, 375 

Foundations, 383, 386 

Fountains of waters, 229, 312; of life, 
223, 380 





THE REVELATION 


Four: Symbolism, 116, 201 ; living 
creatures, 91 f.; Evangelists, 192; 
parts of earth, 206; Angels, 215; 
winds, 215; corners of earth, 215; 
square, 384 

Four and twenty, 189, 263 

France, 371 

Frankincense, 340 

Franks, 78, 331, 358 

Freely, 380, 398 

Freemen, 213, 290, 357 

Friars Minor, 44 

Frog-like, 318 

Fruits, first, 295; of desire, 341; 
twelve, 390 

Full, 167 


Furlongs, 304, 305, 384 


Galba, 53, 58, 329 

Galerius, 75 

Galilee, 1, 2 

Gallienus, 74, 311 

Gardner, Professor, 369 

Garments, 134, 168, 169, ISI, 189, 308, 


320, 353 

Gasquet, Abbot, 161 

Gates, 382, 383, 384, 387, 388, 396 

Gather armies, 319, 320, 368 

Gelasius, Pope, 43 

Γη, 204, 208, 216 

Gematria, 15, 45, 92 f., 292 

Genseric, 79, 313, 316, 332, 333 

Gentiles: Bishops, 23; meaning, 164, 
355, 363, 368; at Jerusalem, 251; 
cities, 322 ; strike the, 355 ; heaven, 
388, 389 (8ε6 Ἔθνος) 

Gibbon : On the cause of Nero’s per- 
secution, 50; dispersal of Temple 
treasures, 58; Rome’s alliances 
with barbarian kings, 80; on 
Pliny’s letter to Trajan, 69; battle 
plan of Roman army, 238; famine, 
78; end of Empire, 80; Roman 
pestilences, 311; Persian wars, 317; 
pillage of Rome, 332; eunuchs, 
340; battle of Chalons, 358 

Gifts, 144, 147, 154, 163, 183, 258, 364 

Girdle, 134 

Gischala, John, 54 f., 205, 231, 235 

Given power by God, 123, 204, 206, 
234, 252, 289; honour to God, 296; 
to do God’s will, 333 ; kingdoms, 
333; waters of life, 380 

Glabrio Acilius, 60, 67, 71 

Glad, 349 

Glass, τοι; 


387 

Glorified herself, 338 

Glory to God, 128, 193, 200, 221, 262, 
315, 347, 349, 382, 387; angel, 334; 
of kings, 388; nations, 389 


sea, 306; clear, 385, 


INDEX 


God: Revealer, 123; the Father, 164, 
169; symbolised, 188 ; praises, 192; 
Almighty, 130; adoration, 193, 263; 
doxology, 193, 200, 221 ; will, 193; 
Creator of all things, 193, 247, 296; 
living, 193, 216; Avenger, 203; sal- 
vation, 220; world, control, 254; 
eternal, 136, 193, 247; angels, 224; 
throne, 222, 359; serve, 222; Tem- 
ple, 222, 250, 265, 387; Spirit of life, 
259; “of heaven,” 262; reign, 264, 
367, 391; smoke of majesty, 309; 
of heaven, 316; mover of hearts, 
333; strong, 338; judges, 344; 
fearers, 348; ‘‘our,” 348; words, 
350; priests, 367; from, 378, 382; 
people, 378; of “he that over- 
comes,” 380; glory, 382, 387; 
Light, 391; Spirit of prophets, 392 

Godless, 62 

Gods, heathen, 47 f., 243 

Gog, 133, 368, 369 

Gold, 134; gilt, 325, 340, 341; reed, 
384; pure, 355, 337 

Gospel, eternal, 296 

Goterzes, 94, 356 

Goths, 73, 75, 78, 79, 80, 358 

Grace to you, 127, 400 

Grapes, ripe, 303 

Grass, 226, 227, 234 

Greek language, 5; writing, 35, 37, 
120 ; version, 120; drama, 116; 
esoteric use, 119 f. 

Greek Church, 81, 106, 148 

“ Green thing,” 234 

Γρηγορεῖν, 168 

Gregory II., Pope. 121 

Gregory of Naz., 41; baptism, 218 

Grotius, 48, 96 

Gwynn, Dr., 27, 40, 121 


Hades, 136, 195, 207, 233; gave up 
dead, 374; cast into pool of fire, 


375 

Hadrian, 56, 57 

Hail, 226, 265; great, 323; symbolism, 

2 

Har 134; sackcloth of, 210; as of 
women, 237 

Hammond, Dr., 45 

Hand of God, 134, 136, 139, 197 

Handmade idols, 243; hand, mark 
in, 290, 298, 364 

Harlot, the, 323, 332; harlotry, 324; 
made naked, etc., 332; the great, 


347 
Harnack, Dr., 46, 67, 84 
Harps, 198; of God, 306 
Harts, 1 
Haruspices, 319 
Harvest, 301 





407 


spe Dictionary of Bible, 92, 280, 

395 

Hate, to, 143 

Have, to, 163 

Haydock, Rev. G. L., 121 

Head, 90, 134; wounded, οἵ; of 
ancients, 189; seven-horned, 269, 
278, 325, 327, 328; blasphemy, 278; 
dust on, 343; crowned, 353 

Healing, 390 

Healy, Rev. P., 72 

Hear, to, 126, 132, 167; heard no 
more, 345; S. John, 393; he that, 


398, 3 

“Heart.” 160, 333; speech, 338 

Heat, 222, 314; scorching, 315 

Heaven: Symbolism, 177, 183, 187, 
195, 222; from, 229, 232, 245; silence 
in, 223; dwellers, 273; ‘‘ taber- 
nacle,” 265, 301, 302; sins reached, 
3373 rejoice, 344; new, 377 

Heavens rolled up, 212; midst, 296; 
opened, 352; fled, 373; gone, 377; 
out of, 382 

Hebraicisms, 35, 39, 128, 130, 154, 238, 
272, 273, 294, 299, 301, 302, 373 | 

Hebrews, 119, 142, 217, 219; saints, 
272; study, 293; Christians, 294; 
Armagedon, 320; servants, 397 

Hecker, Professor, 161 

Hegesippus, 64 

Helena, 8., 57 

Hellenism, 120 

Hell. See Hades 

Helmets, 236 

Helvidius, 60, 68 

Henry VIII., 368 

Heraldry, 356 

Hereafter, 136, 239. See mera ταῦτα 

Heresies, 81, 82, 106, 150, 153, 233 

Hermeneutics, 113 

Herod, 10, 49, 151, 270, 274 

Herodotus, 385 

Heruli, 79, 331, 358 

He that sat, 188, 194, 197, 200, 202, 
204, 214, 222. See “Sit” 

Hid, 213 

Hierapolis, tor 

High Priests, 134, 205, 231 

Hilary, 42 

Hin, 206 

Hindoos, 9 

Hippolytus, 1, 28 ; 

History, 82, 117 f., 155, 239, 330, 333» 
359, 363, 368 

Hold, to, 116, 150, 163, 362 

Holy and True, 170, 192; holy, 307, 


313, 395 
Holy Ghost. See Spirit, Holy 
Holzhauser, 45; exegesis, 96, 100; 
names of churches, 100; on Per- 
gamos, 153; Thyatira, 158; Sardis, 


408 


166; his ordination, 167; Phila- 
delphia, 171; Laodicea, 181; pre- 
diction, 171 

Homogeneous, 223 

Honey, 249 

Honour, 193, 200, 221, 296, 388, 389 

Horace, 47, 329 

Horns, 149, 197, 269; crowned, 278; 
horned sheep, 285; ten, 269, 278, 
325, 327; ten kings, 330; hate the 
harlot, 332; desolate her, 332 

Horses, white, 94, 202, 352, 354, 359; 
red, 204; black, 204, 312; pale, 206; 
four, 216; cavalry, 236; running, 
237; numbers, 241; a vision, 241, 
heads, 241, 243; tails, 243; bridles, 
304; trade, 340; flesh, 357 

Hort, Dr., 46, 92, 121 

Hot, 179, 180 

Hour of temptation, 167, 175; half, 
223; for the, 240; that, 262; of 
judgment, 296; to reap, 301 f. ; one, 
330, 339) 342, 343 

“σον long, O Lord ?” 12, 86, go, 208, 
225, 365, 366 

Hundred and forty-four, 385 

Hunger, 222 

Huns, 79, 80, 153, 331, 358 

Hurt, 148, 234, 238, 243, 255; hurteth, 


395 
Husband of bride, 378 
Hyacinth, 241 


Idolatry, 47, 143, 243, 281, 287, 288, 
289, 324, 335, 381 | 

Idols, 47; gold, silver, etc., 243; 
sacrifices, 158; serve, 396 

Ignatius of Antioch, 24, 97 

Ignatius of Loyola, 164 

Image, make, 289; speak, 
adored, 289, 311; not, 364 

Immaculate Conception, 171 

Impeccability, 159 

Imprimatur, viii 

Incense, 224, 225 

Indifferentism, 177, 180 

Infallibility, papal, 171 

Informers, 60, >, 68 

Innocent, Pope, 42, 336 

Interludes, 111, 215, 239 

Iron, 340 

Irenzeus: On Cerinthus, 18; mil- 
lenarian, 24; death of S. John, 
20; Antichrist, 26; exegesis, 26; 
opinions, 84, 86; on the Beast, 85; 
Domitian, 95; Nicolaites, 143 

Ireland persecuted, 170 

Islands, 130, 212 : fled, 322 

Israel, 152; children of, 382 

Itala, 121 

Italy, 371 


289 ; 





THE REVELATION 


᾿Ιχθύς, 14 
Ivory, 340 


Jacinth, 386 

Jacobites, 41, 106 

James, S., I, 2 

James the Just, 7, 9 

Jasper, 188, 382, 385, 386 

Jericho, 224 

Jerome, S., 17; Bible, 42, 280; S. 
John’s death, 20; and exile, 89; 
Clement of Alexandria, 88; Beth- 
lehem, 336 

Jerusalem: Civil war, poem 55, 
257, 262; famine, 56; fall, 56; re- 
occupation, 56; interdiction, 57 ; 
Christians remained, 57; end, 253; 
torments, 235 

Jerusalem, New, 177, 378, 382 

Jesus Christ: Holy and True, οἱ; 
His Revelation, 123; testimony, 
125, 130, 276, 351, 364; witness, 128, 
178; death, 128; Resurrection, 136, 
198 ; living for ever, 136; the Keys, 
136; the Son, 164, 167, 169, 177; 
beginning of creation, 178; over- 
came, 183; enthroned with the 
Father, 183, 270; the Lamb, 197 
(seetheLamb); Redeemer, 128, 198; 
doxology, 200; Kingdom, 263, 272; 
nativity, 270; martyrs of, 326; I, 
2907; wrote, 398; come, 399; our 
Lord, 400. See Christ 

Jesus, son of Gamala, 260 

Jews: Hatred of Christianity, 3, 146; 
rites, 4; Roman, 48, 50; privileges, 
49; expulsion, 49; revolts, 46, 72; 
customs, 62, 357; tribute, 48, 62, 
116; oppressed, 59, 63; uncon- 
verted, 129, 173; false, 4, 146, 174; 
religion, 47, 61; dispersal, 56, 57; 
punishments, 226 ff. ; woes, 247 

Jezabel, 158 

Joachim of Flora, 44 

John the Baptist, 1, 124, 144, 324, 351, 


397 

John the Evangelist: Namie, 1, 31 ff., 
34, 35, 123, 127, 130, 393; tribe, 2; 
age, 2, 17, 87; rank, 2, 3, 4, 7, 12, 
123; priest, 128; imprisonment, 5, 
6; scourging, 6, 130; Jewish feel- 
ing, 4, 5, 12; mission to Jews, 7; 
to Parthia, 8, 356, 385, 387; travels, 
9, 203; election of Simeon, 9; 
Ephesus, g f.; exile to Patmos, 
12 f., 86, 130; cause of exile, 11, 12, 
86, 130, 141; Greek, 3, 5, 37, 88; 
Greek title, 21; prophet, 2, 12, 103, 
II5, 131, 185, 248, 250, 392; Hebrai- 
cisms, 39, 92; ecstasies, 98, 131, 
136, 382; knowledge, 118, 136, 247; 
composition, 116, 135, 187, 192, 249, 


INDEX 


350, 385; return to Ephesus, 14; 
labours at Ephesus, 16; flees 
Cerinthus, 18; a 18, 36; 
Gospel, 17, 19. 20, 87, 88, 354, 395; 
Presbyter, 19, 31, 34; old age, 20; 
death, 20; burial, 20; tomb, 21, 33; 
miracles, 5, 21; symbol, 191, 232 

John of Parma, 44 

Joppa, 228 

Josephus: Beginning of Jewish war, 
12; decrees in favour of Jews, 48; 
at Rome, 49, 59; famine, 56; spread 
of Judaism, 63; death of Nero, 53; 
honours, 64; accused, 64, 93; 
Roman invasion, 226; soldiers, 
237; sea-fights, 228; zealots, 55, 
231, 235; locusts, 234; oil and wine, 
207; thunder, 207; Hades, 233, 
374; two witnesses, 260; prejudice, 
260; prisoner, 54, 261; exodus from 
Jerusalem, 275; standards, 284; 

d the Word, 354; Temple, 385, 

386 

Jotapata, 54, 57, 276 

Joyce, G. H., $.J., 370 

Judaism, 4, 5, 62 

Judge, to, 208; judgments, 210, 307, 
313, 314, 338, 344, 347, 352 

Judgment, of Jewish theme, 264, 296; 
κρίμα, 323, 336, 337, 339, 344, 347, 
364; final, 373; by works, 374 

Julian, the Apostate, 77, 288, 318 

Julian line, 29, 48 

Julius Ceesar, 48, 329 

Julius Vindex, 53 

“Just,” 306, 313, 314, 347, 352; justi- 
fied, 395 © 

Justification, 350 

Justin Martyr, 25, 63, 140 

Juvenal, 59, 60, 66, 288 


Kai in Hebrew Scriptures, 128, 207, 
250, 342, 352, 362, 373 

ΚΚατοικοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, 209 232, 258, 
273» 283, 289, 324 

Keep, to, 126, 320, 394 

Kenyon, Dr., 119 

Kephro, 24 

Keys of death and hell, 136; of the 
pit, 232, 362 

Kidney, 160 

Kingdom, the expected, 4; preached, 
SiSs = to the Gentiles, 23, 57; 
foretold, 115; shared, 130, 248, 263; 
in view, 128; ‘hast made us a,’’ 
199; established, 263; now come, 
272, 349; overcomes paganism, 
286; is Christianity, 393, 395, 399 

Kingdoms, ten, 330; given to Beast, 
333 

King of ages, 306; King of kings, 
94, 128, 331, 355 





409 


Kings, Roman, 29, 91, 93; seven, 328, 
329; eighth, 329 

Kings of the earth, 128, 213, 250, 319, 
324, 334; five, 91, 329; ten kings, 
79, 80, 278, 330, 358; of the pit, 238; 
‘of rising sun,” 317; design, 331 ; 
help the Beast, 331; fight the 
Lamb, 331; fornicate with harlot, 
335, 338; glory and honour, 388 

Knock, 183 

Know, to, 146, 154, 157, 159 

Κόπον, 140 

Κράτος, 129, 201 

Kurds, 8 


‘*Labarum,” 76 

Labours, Ephesian, 140, 300 

Lactantius, 40, 215 

Lake, 342 

Lamb, the: Johannine expression, 
36 f.; living eternally, 136; vision 
of, 197; canticle, 198; redeemed 
by His blood, 198, 222, 273; worthy, 
198, 200, 202; doxology 200; wrath, 
214; salvation, 220; rule, 223, 270; 
throne, 183, 197, 223, 270, 389; 
slain from the beginning, 283; 
Mount Sion, 293; followers, 295; 
Lord of Lords, 331; conquers ten 
kings, 331; marriage, 349; wife, 349; 
marriage supper, 350; Apostles of, 
383; gs ἀκοὼ 387; lamp, 387 

Lamb, two-horned, 285 

Λαμπάς, 190, 229 

Lamps, 97, 132; light, 345 

Land, 245, 247 

Langton, Stephen, 43, 113 

Laodicea: Synod, 40; symbolism, 
IOI, 106, 107, 178; condition, 107; 
Jewries, 147; letter, 178; situation, 
178; suffering, 182; Church history, 
184; period, 185, 300, 320, 376, 380, 


393 

Lapide, A. C., 45 

Latin, 121; copies, 93 

Aarpevew, 222, 351, 390 

Layard, Sir H., 8, 194 

Le Camus, Mgr., 83, 253 

Leaves, 390 

Leclercq, M., 175 

Λέγει, 38 

Leo the Great, Pope, 77, 79, 313. 

Leo IX., 106, 159, 174 

Leo XIII., viii, 121, 398 

Leopard, 279 : 

Letters, the: Exegesis, 45, 96; his- 
tory, 97; symbolism, 98 f. ; destina- 
tion, 101; predictions, 103; plan, 
IIo; prophetic, 185 

Lex talionis, 95, 314, 337, 357 

Liars, 18, 140, 173, 233, 295, 381, 389; 
loveth a lie, 396 


410 


Licinius, 76, 77 

Life, tree of, 144, 383, 390, 396; crown 
of, 147; book of, 169; water of, 
380, 389, 398; everlasting, 177, 183 

Light, 97, 132, 141; angel of, 334; 
lamp, 345, 391; of heaven, 382, 388; 
sun, 391 

Lightfoot, Bishop, 67 

Lightning, 190, 225, 265, 321 

Limbo, 127 

Lindsay, Dr. T. M., 277 

Linen, 308; fine, 340, 341, 354; justi- 
fication, of saints, 350 

Linus, Pope, 23 

Lion; 191; of Juda, 196; teeth, 237; 


heads, 241; Persian, 242; roar, 246; 


mouth, 279 

Living creatures, ΤΟΊ, 198, 199, 2o0r, 
202, 203, 204, 206, 220, 294, 309; 
with Christ, 364; lived not, 366 

Living God, 136, 145, 193 

Locusts, 234; shape, 236, 238 

Leeti, 358 

Λοιποί ol, 162, 243, 262, 359, 366, 367 

Loose, to, 195, 240 

*‘Lord of Lords,” 94, 128, 355; “of 
the earth,” 254; crucified, 256; our, 
263; remembers, 337 

Lord's Day, 13, 132 

Love, 128, 173, 182; loved not their 
lives, 273 

Lucifer, 232, 238, 269 

Lukewarm, 189 

Tyither, 44 

Auxvia, 132. 387 

Lyons, Church of, 27, 395 


Macedonians, 81 

Mackinlay, Colonel, 17 

Magic, 289 

Magistrates, 288 

Magog, 368, 369 

Mdxatpa, 280 

Make merry, 258; a lie, 396 

Man, ΤΟΙ; man-child, 270, 274; no, 
339, 353; measure of, 385; every, 
395; any, 183, 398 

Mann, Rev: H. K., 159 

Manna, hidden, 154 - 

Manning, Cardinal, 172 

Map of Asia Minor, 102 

Marble,’ 340 

Marcellin, 333 

Marcus, Bishop of Jerusalem, 57 

Mariners, 342 

Mark of Beast, 299, 311; forehead, 
290; hands, 290 

Mark, S., Gospel, 34 

Marriage, 349; supper, 350 

Martial, 59, 60, 329 

Mourning, 338, 339, 341, 379 





THE REVELATION 


Μάρτυς, 125, 128, 130, 150, 209, 252, 273 
Martyrs: Domitian, 71; period, 147; 
relation to θλίψις, 147; to white 
garments, 181; cry for vengeance, 
208 ; robes, 209, 220; sufferings, 
51, 72, 75, 211 f., 215; numbers in 
heaven, 219 f., 306; an ancient 
roclaims them, 221; rewards, 222 
-; identified, 220; blood, 326, 366. 
See Στολή 

Maxentius, 76 

Maximian, 75 

Maximin, 72 

Measure, to, 250 f., 384 

Melania, 336 

Melito, Bishop, 25; letter to Aurelius, 
70; the Lord’s day, 132 

Μέλλω, 180, 248 

Men: Three classes, 240; mighty, 
357; with God, 378 

Menander, 288 

Merchandise, 339, 345 

Merchants, 335, 339, 341 

Messias, 56, 114, 147, 205, 397 

Μετά ταῦτα, 187, 215, 219, 239, 347 

Meravoéw, ‘to repent,” 142, 153, 159, 
167, 182, 243, 244, 315, 316 

Methodius, 49 

Michael, Archangel, 271 

Middle Ages: Thyatira, 107, 155 f.; 
luxury, 158 f.; saints, 162 

Milan Edict, 76, 81 

Millenarians, 24 ff. 

Millennium, 155, 156, 210; date, 36r ; 
explained, 363, 365; first-century 
views, 366 f. 

Mills, 345; mill-stone, 344 

Mindful, 142 

Mingle double, 337 

“ Ministry,” 157 

Miserable, 180 

Modernism, 1 

Mohammedans, 106 

Μολύνειν, 168 

Mommsen, 60 

Monotheism, 47, 63, 77 

Montanism, 24 ff., 30 f., 361 

Montanus, 24, 

Months, five, 235, 238; for the, 240; 
forty-two, 251, 281; Jewish, 274; 
every, 390 

Moon, 210; symbolism, 211, 231, 267; 
no, 387 

Moor, Sir T., Ven., 369 

Morning star, 164, 397 

Moses, 252, 255, 306 

Μόσχῳ, 190, 246 

Mount Sion, 293 Ἄν 

Mountains: As potentates, 91; hiding- 
places, 213, 214; Vespasian’s army, 
227; not found, 322; kings, 328; 
great, 382 


INDEX 


Mouth (see Sword) of horses, 241, 
242; of serpent, 275; the earth, 
275; of lion, 279; blaspheming, 
281 f.; of dragon, etc., 318 

Moved, 212 

MSS., rg f. 

Multitude, 219, 332 

Muratorius, 28 

Murderers, 244, 381, 396 

eoey A., on ol 53 
υστήριον, 138, 145, 2 

Myrrh, 146 

Mystery, I00, 108, 109, 138, 145; of 
God, 248; Babylon, 326; of scarlet 
woman, 327; of Beast, 327 

Mystics, 29, 40, 42 ff., 108 


Naked, 180, 181; walk, 320; make, 


332 
Name: of God, ‘‘my,” 141, 150, 177, 
178, 188; magnify, 307, 315; of 
City of God, 177; new, 154, 177; 
secret, 154, 293, 353; Babylon; 326; 
of Tribes, pg of Apostles, 383; 
of men, 168, 169, 262; in the book 
of life, 283 

Names of blasphemy, 278, 325 

Naés, 177, 222, 251, 266, 308, 387 

Nations, 163, 197; all, 219, 250, 257, 
283, 296, 307, 332, 335, 345, 363, 368, 
388, 389, 390 (see Gentiles) 

Nazarenes: Customs, 4; the elect, 7, 
13; numbers, 7,57; Jewish estima- 
tion, 5, 10; flee to Pella, 57, 205, 
218; primacy, 139; warned, 196, 
216, 274; consoled, 234; witnesses, 
260; special class, 294, 399 

Nebuchadnesor, 393 

Neokorate, Io 

Nepos Bishop, 29, 30 

Nereus, 71 

Nero: Edicts, 11; institutes, 14, 22, 
69; worship, 48, 53, 278, 282, 289 f. ; 
name in gematria, 15, 92, 292; 
Claudius, 41; incendiary, 50; per- 
secution, 54, 86, 286; crowns ‘Tiri- 
dates, 53; Olympian games, II, 53; 
fall, 53; death, 53, 55, 280, 285, 289; 
power, 283; Three Key references, 
284, 292, 329; captivity, 285; official 
stamp, 290 (see Superstition); filthy, 
395 

Nerva, 67, 71 

Nestorians, 82 

New Jerusalem, 177 f.; name, 154; 
canticle, 198; all things, 379; 
heavens, 377 

Newman, Cardinal, on the Kingdom, 
115; conversion, 172; Jerusalem, 
253 

Nicephorus, 41 





411 


Nicolaites, 8, 143, 152 

Nicomedes, 71 

Night, 222, 388; no more, 391 

Nixaw, 144, 148, 154, 163, τόρ, 177, 183, 
196, 202, 273, 306, 331, 3 

Norbanus, 60, 

Nourished, 274 

Novelties, 63 

Number: of Beast, 15, 26, 39, 45, 92 f., 
291; of angels, 199; of Hebrew 
Christians, 218; of martyrs, 219; 
ta σον 241; Satan’s followers, 
3 


Observe, 167 
Octavia, 61 
Odoacer, 79, 316, 333 
**Odours,” 198, 340 
CEcumenius, 43 
Oil, 97, 205, 254, 340 
Ointment, 340 
Olive-trees, 254 
O’Mahony, Rev. Dr., 348 
Omega, 130, 380, 396 
Omens, 319 
Onyx, 386 
Open, to, 170, 195, 196, 198, 202 
psi cette vag 
rigen, 28, 
Original sin, 128 
Orodes, 356 
Orosius, 336 
Ostia, 342 
Ostrogoths, 78, 80 
O.T. estimation, Early Christians’, 
23, 31 
Otho, 58 
Overcome. See Nixaw, “to conquer” 
Ovid, 329 
Oxford movement, 171 


Paganism, 47, 243 f. 

Παιδεύειν, 182 

Pain, 268, 316, 379 

Palms, 219 

Pandataria, 61, 71 

Papias, on John, 19, 32, 34 f.; Bishop, 
etc., 24; his book, 32, 85 

Papyrus, 13; manufacture, IIg; writ- 
ing, 137 

Paraclete, 127, 138, 390 

Paradise, 144 

Parousia, 4, 253 

Partakers of sin, 336 

Parthia, 8; wars, 9, 71; kings, 93; 
coins, 94; symbolism, 94, 202, 240, 
317; politics, 95; royal titles, 356 

Pastor, Professor L., 159 

Passed away, 379 

“Patience,” 130, 140 f., 157, 175; of 
saints, 285, 300 (see ὑπομονή) 


412 


Patmos, 11; quarries, 13; harbour, 
130 

Patriarchs, 189 

Paul, S.: A Nazarene, 4; mission to 
Gentiles, 7; to Ephesus, 9, 104 ; 
at Rome, Io, 109; Spain, 9; cap: 
tivity, το; dates, 105; Asia, τοῦς 
Demetrius, 141; lLaodicea, 184; 
“Ephesians,” 142; ecstasy, 131; 
death, 92; the man of sin, 253; 
baptism, 217 

Pearls, 325, 340, 341, 387 

Πείρασμός, 175 

Pelagians, 81 

Pella, 5, 8, 57, 124, 218, 274, 276 

Penal Laws, 169 

“Penance,” 142, 153, 159, 167, 
243, 244, 315, 316 

Peoples, 198, 219, 250, 257, 283, 296, 
332; my, 336 

Pepuza, 24, 26 

Pergamos, Το, 48; symbolism, 81, 
101, 106; period, 149, 154, 313 

Persecution: Jewish, 6, 8; Roman, 
10, II, 22, 51 f., 71 f.; sporadic, 72, 
75; East, 154; moral effect, 86 f.; 
Domitian, 59 f., 86; salutary, 146; 
ten, 147, 210 f.; tenth, 75, 215; 
millennium none, 363; English, 


182, 


3 

Persia, 72, 74 f., 78; chain armour, 
242 ; symbol, 242 317 (see Parthia) 

Peshitta, 40 

Pestilence, 73, 75, 160, 207, 311 

Πέτᾶλον, 4, 20, 128 

Peter, S., 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; death, 11, 52; 
Rome, 49; Antipas, 151; man wor- 
ship, 393 | ΔῈ 

Philadelphia: Symbol, ror; position, 
170; period, 171; converts, 172 f.; 
mystery, 178; eschatology, 376; 
promises, 380, 391, 393 

Pierce, to, 129 

* Pillars,” 7, 177; of fire, 245 

Pipe player, 345 

‘** Pit,” the bottomless. See” ABvocos 

Pius IX., Pope, 171 

Pius X., Pope, 83, 186, 398 

Plagues, 58, 73, 242. 243, 255; last, 
305; of Egypt, 311; Roman, 75, 79, 
311, 315, 336, 338, 398 

Πλανᾶ, 158, 289, 345, 359, 363, 368 

Plan of Book, 111 f., 239 

Pliny the Younger, 53, 59, 67; letter 
to Trajan, 68, 70, 315; Tiridates, 
53 

Πλοῦτος, 180, 200 

Political, 346 

Polycarp, 24; death, 84, 146, 291 

Polycrates, 20; the tomb of S. John, 


33 
Poncelet, A., S.J., 84 





THE REVELATION 


Pontifex Maximus, 63, 77, 287, 319 © 

Pool of fire, 233, 359, 371, 375; 381 

‘* Poor,” 146, 180, 364 

Popes, 157, 364, 376 

Poppa, 49, 52 

Portion, 381 

Portugal, 371 

Possess, 380 

Pour, 310 

Poverty, 146 

Power (kparos), 200; (Suvapus), 193, 221, 
255, 309; (ἐξουσίαν), 315; to God, 
347 

Preeterists, 42, 44 

‘Praise to our God,” 348 

Prayers of saints, 198, 224, 225 

Preachers, 2, 286, 296 

Precious stones, 325, 340, 341, 382, 386 

Predictions, 98, 103, 123, 368 

‘“* Preface,” S. John’s, 111, 201, 267 

Prepared as spouse, 349 

Presbyter, meaning, I9, 32, 33 f., 104 

Prices, 343 

Priests ‘to God,” 128, 199, 367; slain, 


PN 
. Priests, high, 205 


Primacy, 23. 75, 81, 139-142, 146, 149, 
152, 277, 370 

Primasius, 43 

Princes, 213 

Prison, 147, 368 

Procopius, 57, 316, 343 

Promises, 87, 99 

Propertius, 47, 329 

Prophecies: Symbolized, 98 ; at hand, 
126; wordifg, 101; Messianic, 114; 
fulfilled, 114, 129, 222, 226, 230, 2375 
263; declared, 248, 331, 392, 394, 


398 

Prophesy, to, 123, 251, 252, 255 

Prophetess, 158, 286 

Prophets, 98; O.T., 114, 378; S. John, 
131; false, 140; declaration, 248; 
two, 258; meaning, 286; blood of, 
314, 346; holy, 334; spirit of, 392 

Prostitution, 295, 298, 324 

Punctuation, 120 

Purchased, 294 

Sas a 325» 340, 341 

Pythia, 286 


Queen, 338 
Quickly, 153, 176, 392, 395, 399 
Quintilian, 59, 60 


Rain, 255 

Rainbow, 188, 245 

Ramsay, Sir W.: Parthian coins, 94; 
Laodicean Jews, 148; Thyatira, 
156; Sardis, 165; Laodicea, 185 

“ Readeth, he that,” 126 

Reap, 301 


INDEX 


Banke, 182 és oe 

Red horse, 204; dragon, 

Redemption, the, 128, 196, 198, 222, 
273, 295 

Reed, 250, 384 

Reformation, the: Effect on exegesis, 
44; origins, 161, 166, 364, 368 

Reformation, ‘‘ Counter,’ 168 

Reign of God, 349; of saints, 183, 

304, 391 

* Reins,” 160 

Rejoice, 258, 273, 344, 349 

Relegatio, 13 

Religions, 47 

Remembrance, God’s, 322, 337 

Render to her, 337 

Repentance. See Meravodw 

** Rest, the.” See Λοιποί 

“Rest, to,” 209, 300 

Resurrection of the body, 74, 189, 209, 
219 f.; first, 366, 367 

Reticence, 14, 109 

Revelation, the, 123, 398. See Apoca- 
lypse 

Revenge, 208, 225, 347 

Revolution, 371 

Rewards, I90, 201, 264, 395 

“Rich,” 146, 181, 213; merchants, 
335, 341, 343; come to nought, 342 

Ricimer, 333 

Ripe, 301, 303 , 

Ritual, Jewish, 224 f., 226, 305, 309 

Rivers, 54, 229; as it were, 275, 312; 
of life, 389, 390 

Robes. See Στογὴ 

Rocks, 213; of Abraham, 208 

Rod of iron, 164, 270, 355; measuring, 
250 f. 

Roll up, 119, 212 

Roman Empire ended, 80, 358, 361 ; 
soldiers, 237; temples, 324; stan- 
dards, 283 

* Rome: Burning, 50; symbol, 91; 

new, 81, 149; seven-hilled, 91, 329; 

primacy, 152, 277, 370; Christian, 

277; indicated, 316, 334; destroyed, 


344 
Romulus Augustulus, 79, 358 
Root of David, 196, 397 
Ruffinus, 42 
Rugiens, 358 
Rule, the nation’s, 
heaven, 223 
Russia, 371 


164, 270; in 


Sackcloth of hair, 210; clothes, 252 

Sacrifice, propitiatory, 197, 198 

Sacrifices, pagan, 158, 243 

Sailors, 342 

“Saints.” See Αγίοι 

“Salvation,” 220; now come, 272 ; 
to God, 347 





413 


Sanctified, 395 

Sanctuary. See Nads 

Sand of sea, 276, 368 

Sapor, 74; aera 154, 317 

Her 1 reigss 3 

Sardis, 10; Czesar worship, 48; sym- 
bolism, tor; history, 165 ; period, . 
166 ; laxity, 166; persecution, 168 f. ; 
saints, 165: constancy, 173 

Sardius, or sardine stone, 188; sar- 
donyx, 386 

Sarmatians, 358 

Satan, 47; seat of, 81, 150; dwelleth, 
150, 238; fall, 272; depths of, 162; 
bound, 362; loosed, 368 

Saxons, 80, 331,358 

Say, to, 248, 250, 356 

Scales, weighing, 204 

Scarlet, 325, 340, 341 

tre cope, 234; torment, 235; stings, 
23 


Scotland persecuted, 169 

Scott, Rev. T., 286 

Scripture, O.T., 23; destroyed, 213 

Sea: Symbolism, 217; of glass, 191, 
306 ; creatures in, 200, 208 ; became 
blood, 227, 312; and land, 245, 247, 
273; of life, 276; of Daniel, 278; 
men, 342; stone sinks, 344; gave 
up the dead, 374; no more, 377 

Seal up, 246, 363; not, 394 

Seals of books, 194; of God, 216; 
baptismal, 217 

Seals, seven, 202, 203, 204, 206, 208, 
210, 223 

* Searches,” 160 

Seat of Satan, 81, 150 f., 154; of 
Beast, 316 

Seats, 189. See Opdvos 

“Secret, the,” discipline of, 14; 
secrecy, 109, 120 

Seduce. See Πλανᾷᾶ 

See, to, 125, 129, 133, 181 

Seed of woman, 276 

Seen by S. John, 393 

Send, 123; my angel, 397 

Serpent, 243, 272; face of, 274; 
mouth, 275; bound, 362 

““Servants’’: Apostles, 12, 123 f.; 
knowledge of O.T., 13; of Greek, 
108; of Asia, 108 f.; limitations, 
14; brethren of John, 130; know- 
ledge of the kingdom, 131; mar- 
tyrs, 209; date, 23, 95; sedticed, 
158; sealed, 216; the prophets, 
248, 264, 394; little and great, 264; 
Moses, 306; blood, 347, 348; fellow, 
351; serve God, 390; book sent to, 
392 

Garvie God, 222; servers of idols, 396 

Seven: Symbolism, 97, 116, 246, 305, 
308; heads, 91; mountains, ΟἹ; 


414 


Churches, 24, 127; seals, 194; horns, 
197; eyes, 197; stars, 135, 138; 
lamps, 190 ; candlesticks, 138 ; 
spirits, 127; trumpets, 224; plagues, 
305; classes, 214; angels, 224; 
thunders, 137; thousand, 262 ; 
heads, 269, 278; diadems, 269; 
vials, 309 

Seven Spirits, 127, 165, 190, 197 

Severus, Septimus, 72, 133 

Shame, 181, 320 

Sharer, 130 

Sheehan, Rev. F. J., viii 

Sheep, 340 

Shepherd of Hermes, 28 

Ship-masters, 342 

Ships, 228, 342, 343 

* Shortly,”’ 204 

Show, to, 323 

Shut, to, 170, 363, 388 

Sibylline Oracles, 90, 93 

Sickle, 301, 302 

Sight, in, 287, 289, 299 

Signs in Jerusalem, 12, 260; in 

eaven, 267; another, 268, 305; 

false prophet, 288, 289, 319 

Silence, 223 

Silk, 340 

Silver, 340 

Simeon, Bishop, 3, 92, 139 

Simeon, Professor V., 149 

fees the zealot, 54, 234, 235; Magus, 
2 

Simony, 15 

Sing, to, 138, 306 

Sins, 128, 336, 337 

Sion, Mount, 293 

Sit: καθημένους, 296; one sitting, 188, 
301, 302; on waters, 323, 332; white 
horse, 352, 357, 359; in judgment, 
365, 373; throne, 379. 

Six hundred and sixty-six, 292 

Sixteen hundred, 304 

Σκηνοῦν, 222, 273, 378 

Slain, 150, 197, 208, 209; not slain, 
243, 255 ; will not adore, 289 ; saints, 
346; paganism, 359 

Slaves, 340 

Smoke of the pit, 233; symbolic, 


241; of torments, 299, 348; of 


majesty of God, 309; of Rome, 
338, 343 ἡ 

Smyrna, 10; Czesar worship, 48; sym- 
bolism, Ior; period, 145: tribula- 
tion, 147; present state, 148 

Snow, 134 

Sodom, 230, 256 

Solomon’s stables, 386 

Son of God, 155; of Man, 134, 269 f., 
301; he that overcomes, 380 


Sorcery, 244, 345, 381, 396 
Sore, 311 





THE REVELATION 


Sorrow, 338, 379 : 

Souls of martyrs, 208, 364; living in 
sea, 312; ‘‘of men,” 340 

Speak, to, 133, 323, 381 

Spear-wound, 4, 37, 129 

Spencer, poet, 170 

Spirit, Holy, 127, 138, 144, 148, 154, 
165, 185, 190, 197, 300, 389, 398 

«Spirit, in the,’’ 132, 188, 325 

‘*Spirit of prophecy,’’ 351; of life, 


259 

‘Spirits, unclean,’’ 318, 319, 335, 382 

“Spiritually,” 256 ᾽ Ἄ 

Spouse, 349 

Square, 384 

Stadium, 84; stadia, 304, 337 

Stage, IgI, 201 

Stand, who shall be able to? 215; far 
off, 339, 341, 342 

Standards, Roman, 283 

Stanley, Dean, 286 

Stanton, Dr., 41 

“Stars”: Symbolism, 99 f., 212; 
seven, 135; mystery, 138; fall, 212, 
231, 269; great star, 229; mame, 
230; Lucifer, 232, 269; third part, 
231, 269; twelve, 267; morningy 


194, 397 
a he 148, 188, 192, 212; ws στεῴανοι, 
2 


Stichometry, 120 

“ Stings” in tails, 238 

Στολή, 169, 182, 190, ~~ 219, 221, 396 

Stone, white, 154; mill, 344 

Streets, 390 

‘*Strength,” 200, See ᾿Ισχυρός, 272; 
little, 172 

Stuart, Professor Moses, ontheGreek, 
37; Luther, 44; exegete, 45; on 
seven, 116; repeated revelations, 
132; @avdros, 160; εἴληθας, 167 ; 
μοσχῳ, 192; root of David, 196; 
ἐπὶ λαοῖς, 250; Els, 303; Oval, 339; 
λιπαρὰ, 341; our God, 348; ἐνδώ- 
μησις, 385 

Suetonius on Claudius, 48; Tiridates, 
53; period, 59; on Domitian, 60, 
61 f.; circumcision, 62; on. Chris- 
tians, 65; the twelve Czesars, 93 

Suevi, 78, 80, 331 

** Suffer,” 147 

Suicide, 236 

Sun: Shine, 135; darkened, 210; 
heat, 222, 231, 233; ‘‘the rising 
sun,” 216; angel, 245; clothed with, 
267; burning, 314; no, 387 

Sun-worship, 77 

Superstitions regarding Nero, vii, 
54, 90, 256, 280, 328, 329 

δ ΟΝ, of the Lamb,” 183; of God, 


35 
Surely, 399 


INDEX 


Surround, 370 

Swallow, to, 275 

Sweet, 249 

Swete, Dr. H. B.: Concordance of 
words in the Apocalypse and Gos- 
pel of S. John, 38, 39; exegesis, 
46; the Yod, 92; Τάδε λέγει, IOT; 

_ comparison with Torah, 103; O.T. 
references, 113; text, 121; μάρτυς, 
125; ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις, 151; θανάτος, 
160; doctrine, 162; ᾿Ετήρησάς, 173; 
eschatology, 183; βασανίζειν, 235; 
κέντρον, 238; σκηνοῦντες, 273; ἀρσεν, 
274; ““Παγνεϑί," 302; Armagedon, 
320; drunk with blood, 327; 
“thyine-wood,” 340; R. xviii. 16, 
342; slain, 346; millennium date, 
361; Aet, 364; φωστὴρ, 382; ἐνδώ- 
Knots, 385; γένος, 397 

Sword, of Nero's death, 58, 280, 285; 
289; ‘‘two edged,” of mouth, 135, 
149 153, 355, 359; great, 204; “to 
kill with,” 206 

Swore, angel, 247 

Symbolism: Fish, 14; cryptic, 14; 
Rome, οἱ ; churches, candlesticks, 
98 f., 215; Nero, 92 f.; O.T., 
113 f., 120, 230; Roman army, 236; 
of light and darkness, 231 ; moun- 
tains, 213, 227; rivers, 275, 312; 
bear, leopard, lion, 279; heaven, 


377 
Synagogue of Satan, 146, 148, 173 f. 
Synod of Hippo, 42 
Synoptic, 113 
Syriac version, 40, 121 


Tabernacle, 222, 265, 282; (see vads) 
of God, 378 

Tacitus: Nero’s cruelty, 11; Czesar 
worship, 48; first persecution, 51; 
murder of Poppzea, 52; on Tiri- 
dates, 53; Nero’s death, 53 ; 
writings, 59; the Domitian 
“terror,” 60, 61; opinion of Chris- 
tians, 65 

“Τάδε λέγει, 102, 139, 145, 149, 155, 165, 
170, 178 

Tails like scorpions, 238; serpents’ 
243 ; dragons’, 269 

Take away, 39 

Talent (weight), 227; hail, 323 

‘Tau, 130, 250 

Teach, to, 152, 158 

Tears, 223; wiped away, 379 

Teeth, 237 

Temple: Prophecy, 3, 88; worship 
by Christians, 5; fall, an epoch, 15, 
56 f., 90 ; desecration, 55, 231; fall, 
56; restoration attempt, 77; never- 
to-be-restored, 253; ritual, 226; 
measure, 90, 250 f.; worshippers, 





41 


250; altar, 250 f.; court, 251; came 
out of, 301 ; open, 308; filled with 
smoke of majesty, 309; gilt, 386; 
gates, 388 (see Voice) 

Temptation, 175 

Ten: Symbolism, 117; tribulation 
ten days, 147, 210 f.; tenth part,- 
262; horns, 269, 278 

Tent, 308 

Tertullian: Birth of Christ, 17; the 
Apocalypse, 27; Jerusalem, 57; 
Domitian, 65; spread of Chris- 
tianity, 72; Nicolaites, 143; on 
commerce, 292 

Τῆς γῆς, meaning, 129, 175, 204, 206, 
217 

Testimony, 125, 130, 208, 256; Ark 
of, 265; of Jesus, 276, 364, 398, 399; 
tabernacle of, 308; opened, 308; 
to the Churches, 397 

Tetragon, 384 

Text, 119 

Θανάτος, 136, 160, 206, 312 

‘* Thanksgiving,”’ 221, 268 

Thefts, 244 

Theodore of Mopsoestia, 41 

Theodoret, 17, 41 

Theodoric, 80 

Theodosius, 78 

Ld ei 25 

Thief, as, 167, 320 

Thigh, 355 

Past, 135; present, 135; 
future, 135; shortly come to pass, 
123, 392 

Third part, 226, 227, 229, 230, 231, 
240; of men, 240, 242 243 

Thirst, 222, 380, 398 

Time at hand, 394 

Θλῖψις, 130, 146, 147 f., 159, 215, 221 

Thousand: Symbolism, 117; years, 
153, 362, 363, 364, 367; finished, 
366, 368; of thousands, I99 

Three and a half: Symbolisms, 117 ; 
day, 257 

Three parts, 76, 322; three unclean, 
318; gates, 383 

Thrones, 113, 183, 188, I91, 197, 200, 
220, 222, 223; of God and Lamb, 
389, 390 

Opévos, 150, 152, 188, 279, 294, 316, 
321, 364; white, 373, 389 

Thunder: Seven, 137, 246, 375 ; awe- 
inspiring, 190, 225; symbolism, 
246, 265, 321 

Thundering legion, 72 

Thuringians, 80, 331, 358 

Thyatira: Existence denied, 27, 41, 
107; symbolic, Io1; period, 155; 
history, 156; saints, 162; present 
state, 163; missions, 164; the mil- 
lennium, 355; ‘‘the rest,” 360; re- 


416 


formed by persecution, 364; pro- 
mises, 380 

Thyine-wood, 340 

Tiberius, 49 

“Time at hand,’’ 126; little, 209, 363, 
364; ‘no more,” 247; short, 273; 
and times, 274 

Tiridates, 9, 12; at Rome, 52; 
ees 94; symbolism, 94, 203, 


35 

Tischendorf, 121 

Title-page, 125 

Titus, 54, 58, 230 

Tomb of S. John, 21, 32 f. 

‘Tongues,’’ 198, 219, 250, 257, 283, 
296; gnawed, 316, 332 

Topaz, 386 

Torches. See λαμπάς 

Torments. See βασανίζειν 

Totila, 80, 316, 333, 343 

Tradition, 83, 87, 

Trajan, 20, 56, 68; letter to Pliny, 
70, 71, 147 

Trample, 135, 155, 251, 304 

Transfiguration, the, 2, 134,135, 136 

‘Treason, 13 

Tree of life, 144 f., 383, 390, 396 

Trees, 216 f., 234 

Tribes, 199; Israel, 218; all, 129, 
219, 257, 283; every, 296; names, 
382 

Tribulation, 130, 146, 159, 221. 
Θλῖψις 

Tribunes, 67, 214, 357 

Tribute, Jewish, 48, 62 

Trinity, Holy, 127 f. 

Trodden. See Trample 

“True,” 178, 314, 347, 350, 352, 379 
392 

Trumpets: Voice, 132, 224; first, 226; 
second, 227; third, 229; fourth, 
231; fifth, 232; sixth, 239; seventh, 
248, 263; player, 345 

“Truth,” 130 

Tubingen School, 46 

Turks, 21, 106 

. Turn, to, 98, 133 

Turner, C. H., 17 

Twelve: Symbolism, 117; tribes, 
218, 293, 294; gates, 382; founda- 
tions, 383; names, 383; Apostles, 
383; thousand, 384; fruits, 390 

Tyconius, 42 

Tyrant, 15, 53, 88 


See 


Ὑμῖν, 162 

Unbelieving, 381 

Unchaste, 396 

Uncials, 13, 119 f. 

Unclean, 318, 335 
“Understanding,” 92, 292, 328 





THE REVELATION 


Universities, 364 - 
Ὑπομονή, 131, 140, 157, 175 


Valens, 78 

Valerian, 73, 74, 148, 311, 317 

Van den Biesen, Professor, 131 

Vandals, 79, 80, 153, 331 

Vellum, 119 

Vengeance, 4, 89, 95, 226, 353 

‘‘ Versions,” 121 

Vespasian, 54, 58 

Vessels, 340 

Vials, 198, 242, 309; pour, 310; first, 
311; second, 312; third, 312; 
fourth, 314; fifth, 316; sixth, 317; 
seventh, 321 ; 

Victoria, Queen, 171 

Victorinus, 12, 29, 96 

Vineyard, 303 

Violence, 344 

Virgil, 223, 329 

Virgin, 268, 295 

Visigoths, 41, 80, 153, 331 

Visions, 117; repeated, 137; explana- 
tion, 241, 244 

Vitellus, 58 

Vitringa, 96 

“Voice”: Trumpet, 132; seen, 133, 
187; as the sound of many waters, 
135, 294, 349; many angels, 190, 
232; of thunder, 202, 246, 294, 349; 
from the throne, 190, 225, 348, 
378, 379; the altar, 239; as a 
lion, 246; seventh angel, 248; 
from heaven, 246, 248, 259; in 
heaven, 263, 265, 272; of harpers, 
294; loud, 301, 356; great, 310, 321; 
voices, 321; strong, 335; of musi- 
cians, 345; bride, 345; multitudes, 
347, 34 

Vomit, I 

Vulgate, 120 f., 130, 133, 134, 150, 157, 
158, 162, 164, 167, 173, 187, 189, 201, 
202, 203, 212, 238, 240, 263, 264, 266, 
279, 296, 328, 332, 334, 340, 342, 343, 
352; 379, 371, 378, 379, 396 

Vultures, 356 


Waddington, 84 

Waldenses, 44 

Walketh, who, 139; in heaven, 388 

Walls, 382, 383, 385 

Wars: Jewish, 12, 54; duration, 247, 
252; Roman Civil, 58, 204; make, 
256, 276; with the saints, 283 

Warnings to Nazarene Church, 3; 
Jews, 260; Roman Church, 336 

‘‘Washing ”’ from sin, 128, 221, 396 

Watch, to, 167, 320 

Waters, 135, 229, 230, 255, 275; angel 
of, 313; sit upon, 324, 332; of life, 
380, 389, 398 


INDEX 


Wealth. See Πλοῦτος 

“Weep,” 196, 338, 339, 341, 343 

“Weight,” 162 

Westcott, Dr., 114, 121 

Wheat, 205, 340 

White, as snow, 134, 221, 168; cloud, 
301; glittering, 350; clean, 354 

‘*Who is, who was, who is to come,”’ 
127, 130; who is like, 281 

Widow, 338 

Wife, 349; of the Lamb, 381 

Wilkinson, Sir J., 194 

Wilderness, 270 

Winds, 215 

Wine (Temple), 205 

Wine, of wrath, 297, 322; of God, 
299; press, 303, 353, 355; Of pros- 
titution, 324, 335; trade, 340 

Wings, I92; of an army, 237; an 
eagle, 274 

Wisdom, 92, 200, 221, 292, 328 

‘*Without spot,” 295; the city, 304; 
heaven, 396 

Witness, faithful, 128,150 (see Μάρτυς); 
two, 252 ff., 259 f. 

Woes, 232; first, 239; second, 262; 
third, 263; to earth, 273; woe, 339, 
341, 343 

Woman, the, 267, 269 f., 273, 274, 275; 
seed of, 276 

Woman: Hair, 237; scarlet, 91, 325, 
326, 328, 342; a great city, 334 

Wonder, 280, 305, 326, 327, 328 

Wood, 340 

Wool, 134 

Word, the, 12, 36, 94, 125, 130, 208; 
my, 172; of testimony, 273; pro- 





417 


phecy, 126; fulfilled, 333; true, 
350; of God, 353, 364, 392; keep, 


394 

Works, 140, 142, 157, 160, 161, 163, 165, 
167, 172, 300, 316; Rome’s, 337; 
judged by, 373, 374; lies, 389; ren- 
der according, 395 

World, kingdom of, 263 ; whole, 175 

Wormwood, 230 

Worship. See Adoration 

Worthy, 168, 193, 195, 196, 198, 200 

Wound: Head, 280; healed, 280, 287, 
289; grievous, 311; their, 316 

Wrath: Their, 215 ; of the Lamb, 214, 
264; of Satan, 273; of God, 305, 
309; wine of, 322, 355 

Wretched, 180 

“Write,” 133; of past, present and 
future, 136 ; to Churches, 139, 145, 
149, 155; name of God, 177; not, 
246; Blessed, 300, 350; true, 379 

Writing, 118, 119, 137 

Written, 126; within, 195; without, 
195 ; Name, 353, 355, 382, 389; this 
book, 389, 399; not, 375 


Xapis, 127 f., 400 


Year, for the, 240, 362, 363, 364 
Yod, 92 


Zabulon, 2, 128, 219 
Zealots, 55 f., 231, 235, 260 
Zealous, 182 

Zorobabel, 254 


Printed in England. 





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